Heart of Energon
by Smile-I'mTheEndOfAllThatYouSee
Summary: Crossover between movie verse and Transformers: Prime, It's been five years since Sam's death, and Bumblebee has taken a new charge named Raf, but as the 5th anniversary of Sam's death approaches, new suprises and mysteries will unfold
1. Bee's Mysterious Behavior

**First crossover story, and while I know there are some contradictions between the movie and cartoon, this fic will offer its own answers which will be revealed in time. Important note, this story takes place in 2019. All characters from cartoon series are same age as they are in fic. For purposes to the story, I'm basically making Transformers: Prime take place in 2019. The timeline will eventually be revealed, and besides Bee's new Camaro form is way too awesome and advanced for today's technology. Anyway enjoy. Disclaimer: I don't own cartoon, movie, or songs used**

_**"words" - **_**Bee speaking using electronic sound effects as he does in cartoon**

_"words" - _Bee using music or dialogue from radio

"words" - normal dialogue

_words - _thoughts

* * *

><p>Ratchet screwed in the last screws of Bumblebee's voice capacitor. Then he prepared to wield the outer metal shut, protecting the voice capacitor from the outside world. When Ratchet was finished, he said, "There. Now you can use your radio to communicate again. I reinstalled the link between your radio and your voice capacitor. Try it."<p>

All this time, Bee used beeps, chirps, and whirling sounds to communicate. Only the Autobots and Raf could understand him. It would be nice to use his radio again so everyone could understand him. It's the next best thing to having his voice back. Bee selected a lyric from "Singin' In The Rain". "_I'm singin' in the rain/Just singin' in the rain/What a glorious feelin'/I'm happy again."_

"Seems to work fine," Ratchet said, "I'm sorry I couldn't repair your voice capacitor completely. This time it was truly destroyed beyond repair. Your voice capacitor was already damaged beforehand in which only minimal repairs could be done, but when Shockwave delivered that blast five years ago, it further damaged your voice capacitor, destroying your voice beyond repair and severing the link between your voice capacitor and your radio. Luckily, that link was repairable. I just didn't have the time or parts then. Plus, I was severely damaged, needing major repairs myself."

"_…thanks for the gift," _Bee played on his radio.

"You're welcome, but I'm curious as to why you want your voice capacitor fixed now."

Bumblebee didn't say anything or played anything. His face said it all.

"Oh yeah," Ratchet said solemnly and sympathetically, "It's in a few days, is it? The Fifth Anniversary of the day Sam Witwicky was killed."

Bee only nodded his head. "_**I miss him.**_"

"I know you do," Ratchet said sympathetically. "We all do."After a minute of solemn silence passed, Ratchet asked, "Are you going to visit his grave?"

Bee nodded his head. "_**I just need to ask Optimus Prime for permission."**_

"I'm sure he'll allow you to go. I'll even watch Raf for you while you're gone." Normally, Ratchet wouldn't be the one to volunteer himself to watch any of the human children, but knowing how upset Bumblebee was over Sam, Ratchet volunteered if it would make Bumblebee's long lasting burden of grief a little easier.

"_I thank you…I didn't think…__**that Shockwave would**__…come alive. __**Optimus killed him … years ago.**__"_

"Me neither. The damage Shockwave received from Optimus plus the death blow Optimus delivered should have permanently offlined him, but Shockwave, being the mad scientist he is, probably found a way to make himself pretty much immortal, allowing him to wake up from death. Once Shockwave was resurrected, he probably upgraded Soundwave's, Starscream's, and Megatron's bodies and resurrected them somehow," Ratchet hypothesized.

Just then, the two mechs heard someone enter the base. "Hey, guys!"

It was Raf.

Bee lightened up when he saw his human charge. He was happy to show Raf his new ability to speak, but Bumblebee still felt burdened with grief over his best friend's death.

"Hey, Raf," Ratchet greeted. "Where are the others?"

"Oh, Jack is working, and Miko is serving detention. I think Arcee and Bulkhead are with them. It's just me."

Ratchet sighed in relief. At least there will still be peace and quiet with only one – the quietest one – around base rather than just all three kids. If only for awhile.

"_Hello/I've waited here for you/Everlong,_" Bee played on his radio.

Raf was surprised at what Bee just said, er sung. "Bee! Is that your voice? Can you really talk now?"

"No, that's just his radio," Ratchet replied. "I fixed Bumblebee's link between his radio and voice capacitor so he can now talk through his radio."

"That's great, Bee! Now everyone can understand you!"

"_**Uh-huh.**_"

"Come on! We should celebrate. How about playing video games? Does that sound good to you?"

"_**Sounds great!**_"

"I'd ask you to do some karaoke to really try out your new ability but with all those good singers to pick from, I'm afraid you'd beat me."

Bee played a clip of an audience laughing to a comedian's joke on Sirius XM Laugh USA. Bumblebee got out of the sick berth and followed Raf to the base of the stairs where Bee transformed into a 2017 Camaro which based on the technology of a Mercedes SLS AMG. Bee opened the door, and Raf climbed right in. Inside, the two played a racecar video game. Raf pretened that his controller was a steering wheel to a racecar. He pictured himself racing in Daytona. _He's coming up the final lap, _Raf mentally narrated to himself in third person. _Three Time Champion racecar driver Rafael Esquivel speeds around the first corner. He's in the lead. But what's this? His longtime rival Bumblebee catches up to him. Is this is for Rafael? Rafael picks up more speed. Looks like he's not about to give up, folks. Now the two are neck and neck. Who's gonna come out the victor? It's only halfway to the finish line! Whoever wins becomes the next racecar champion. Will it be Bumblebee or Rafael?_

Bumblebee's virtual racecar falls behind three fourths of the way. Raf's virtual race car crosses the finish line. Raf throws the controller and gleefully shouts, "Alright! I won!" _Rafael Esquivel is the champion! _"I can't believe it. Usually, you always win, Bee."

_**"Congratulations!" **_Bee chirped. It was enthusiastic, but Raf noticed a hint of disappointment.

_No, _Raf thought, _not disappointment, but something else. That was an advanced level, and Bee always beats me on every level. Did he let me win? But why? And if so, why does Bee seem a little sad?_

"_He's going the distance/He's going for speed." _Bumblebee played in which the "he" was directed at Raf.

Raf decided to mask his suspicions. "You bet I am, Bee. Soon, I'll be a faster driver than you are."

_**"We'll see about that!" **_Bee teased. However, Raf still noticed the underlining sadness in Bee's enthusiastic taunt.

The two played another game, and this time Bee won but barely. They played five more rounds in which Raf won all of them.

"Wow, Bee. You're not doing so hot. Are you okay or something?" Raf asked. The question was simple on the outside, but it was meant to figure out why Bee is a little bit down today.

"_And I am fine, I'm fine, I'm fine I am fine,/ I'm fine, I'm fine__,_" Bee played.

"Well, if you say so, or sing so," Raf said, but he was still concerned. That is just how strong Raf's bond is with Bumblebee and vice versa. Raf didn't need to words to know what Bee was feeling. He just knew, and Raf knew there was something wrong, but he couldn't figure it out nor was Bee telling him.

After a long and tiring round of videogames, Raf got out of Bee, and Bee transformed back into his bipedal form. Bumblebee and Raf watched a racecar movie. While Raf was absorbed in every adrenaline pumped racing scene and laughed at the movie's humor, Bumblebee seemed uninterested. Not bored uninterested, but like Bumblebee's mind was somewhere else far away. Raf took notice of this, and Raf was a little confused. Bumblebee loved racecar movies and comedy. The two combined were like the ultimate movie genre for Bee so why was Bee so uninterested?

"A penny for your thoughts, Bee?" Raf asked.

As much as it hurt to keep the grief and pain bottled inside, Bumblebee didn't want to talk about Sam to Raf. Part of it was that as soon Bumblebee would describe Sam to his new charge, Bumblebee would break down in uncontrollable sorrow. He couldn't have Raf see him so vulnerable when Bumblebee was suppose to be the tough one to protect Raf. But the real reason was that Sam was special to Bumblebee. By keeping Sam's memory to himself, it was like having Sam back and all too himself. He loved Sam and deeply missed him. Not only that but he felt so guilty for not protecting Sam. Bumblebee spark ached for Sam, and he couldn't let Raf see the pain Bumblebee bottled up inside so pretending everything was alright, Bee responded, _"Oh, sweet nuthin'."_

Raf recognized that particular lyric of being part of some seventies song that his parents played around the house figured Bee would talk to him about what's going on when he's ready so Raf said, "Okay. Whatever you say."

About a half hour later, the movie finished, and Arcee and Jack returned followed by Bulkhead and Miko. Not long after Optimus returned from his recon mission. Bumblebee was excited to show his human friends and Autobot teammates that he can now somewhat talk.

Choosing a clip from a song, Bumblebee played, "_Hello, hello, hello…"_

Miko, Jack, and his teammates were shocked at what just came out of Bumblebee. "Bumblebee, is that your voice?" Jack asked.

Arcee understood that it wasn't Bee's voice. She smiled and remarked, "Seems like you can speak through your radio again, huh Bumblebee?"

"_Uh-huh, this my shit…"_ Bee played.

Optimus smiled. "It seems that Ratchet was successful in repairing your voice capacitor."

"Not even close," Ratchet corrected, "Unfortunately, Bumblebee's voice capacitor is too far damaged for him to even utter a single word, but I was able to fix the link between his voice capacitor to his radio."

"Either way, you have done well, old friend."

Jack, Miko, and Bulkhead, who had never heard Bumblebee speak through his radio before or even knew Bumblebee before he lost his ability to speak at Tyger Pax, where too excited over Bumblebee's new ability.

"Come on, Bee, play something hardcore!" Miko begged.

Bumblebee complied and played the refrain of Bullet for My Valentine's "Waking the Demon":

"_Waking The Demon,  
>Where'd you run to?<br>Walk in the shadows,  
>Watch the blood flow,<br>There's not much longer, so don't try and fight,  
>Your body's weakening, Walk to the light,<br>Those painful times so alone so ashamed,  
>I'm not coming back there's nothing to gain"<em>

"Awesome!" Miko shouted. Apparently, Bumblebee's sound quality as a 2017 Camaro was so much better than his sound quality as a 2007 Camaro and even better than when Bee was a 1976 Camaro. Of course, Miko didn't know about his previous form. None of them did except Ratchet, Arcee, and Optimus.

Raf observed the excitement over Bee's new ability and noticed something: despite Bumblebee being happy about being the center of attention, sadness of some sort showed in Bumblebee's optics. Usually, Bumblebee would be thrilled at the prospect of being the center of attention and having the next best thing to having his voice back. When the excitement faded away, Bulkhead, Arcee, Jack, and Miko relaxed, watching TV. Bumblebee and Raf joined them. However, Raf wasn't watching TV, but observing Bee's strange behavior. Raf noted that Miko and Jack were clueless to the feeling of sadness Bumblebee kept hidden in himself, but Raf noticed that Arcee and Bulkhead were aware. More specifically, Arcee was aware and seemed to understand why as she spoke gentler and kindlier to Bumblebee than usual as if she could understand exactly where Bumblebee was coming from. Bulkhead, on the other hand, was only aware as he once in a while said something funny that was meant to cheer up Bumblebee, but when Bumblebee didn't laugh or mimic laughter as would have normally done, Bulkhead just sort of gave up. He acted as though he didn't know what was wrong but understood something was wrong and tried to fix it but didn't know how.

Raf also noticed similar behavior in Ratchet and Optimus Prime. They both seemed to understand why Bumblebee was feeling down. It was especially obvious when Ratchet asked Arcee and Bulkhead, whom he rarely asked because of his clumsiness, for help when Bumblebee was perfectly available or when Optimus allowed Bumblebee to skip training even though it was mandatory. Something was up, and everyone knew about it except him, Jack, and Miko. And Raf was determined to find out.

Raf excused himself from the couch and went to Ratchet who was working in his usual spot. "Hey, Ratchet!" Raf called out.

Ratchet almost jumped out of his metal, almost dropping his wrench. He turned around and annoyed, asked, "What is it, Raf? Can't you see I'm working?"

"Sorry, but I was just wondering if you noticed anything wrong with Bee? I mean, he seems kind of down today, but he's hiding it."

Ratchet knew what Raf was talking about, but if Bumblebee didn't want to talk about it, then Ratchet wasn't going to violate Bumblebee's personal decision. "No, Bumblebee seems like his usual self today minus his new preference of communicating. Now can you please leave me alone? I'm busy here."

Disappointed, Raf said, "Well, okay. Thanks anyway."

But Raf wasn't about to give up, while Jack was using the bathroom, Raf asked Arcee the same question. Arcee replied, "He's probably disappointed that he couldn't get his voice back." Somehow, Raf knew that wasn't the case, but he left it at that.

Later, Raf decided to ask Optimus, figuring he was the best source of information, but when he did, Optimus only relpied, "I'm sure Bumblebee is fine, but if there is anything bothering him, then Bumblebee will come to you when he's ready to talk."

Disappointed over the lack of answers, Raf contemplated turning to Bulkhead as a last resort, but seeing that Bulkhead is in the same position as Raf – has no clue but knows something is up – decided against it. After Bumblebee brought Raf home, Raf decided that perhaps he should follow Optimus's advice and let Bumblebee come to him, but first Raf decided to cheer Bumblebee up. Then perhaps, Bumblebee will open up to him. As Raf laid in bed, he decided that tomorrow he will plan a day of fun for just him and Bumblebee in hopes of brightening up his young guardian even though he was clueless to what's bothering him. After all, friends are there for each other.

Comfortable knowing that Bumblebee was just parked outside his house, Raf turned off the lights and slept peacefully excited for tomorrow.

* * *

><p><strong>These are the songs used in Bumblebee's dialogue<strong>

"_I'm singin' in the rain/Just singin' in the rain/What a glorious feelin'/I'm happy again."_ – Singin' In The Rain (song from musical _Singin' In The Rain)_

"…_thanks for the gift," – _Scars and Stripes by: Angelspit

"_I thank you…" _– I Thank You by: Rebecca St. James

"…_I didn't think…" _– I Didn't Think It Would Last by: Trevor Robinson

"…_come alive."_ – Come Alive by: Foo Fighters

"_Hello/I've waited here for you/Everlong,_" – Everlong by: Foo Fighters

"_He's going the distance/He's going for speed." _– The Distance by: Cake

"_And I am fine, I'm fine, I'm fine I am fine,/ I'm fine, I'm fine__,_" – I'm Fine by: Kimya Dawson

"_Oh, sweet nuthin'." _– Oh! Sweet Nuthin' by: Velvet Underground

"_Hello, hello, hello…" _– Smells Like Teen Spirit by: Nirvana

"_Uh-huh, this my shit…" _– Hollaback Girl by: Gwen Stefani


	2. Day of Fun

**Another chapter. Disclaimer: I don't own movie or cartoon**

* * *

><p>When Raf woke up, he got dressed and quickly ate breakfast. He ran outside to see Bumblebee parked on the side of his house. "Hey, Bee." Raf greeted.<p>

_"Hey hey hey…"_ Bee greeted.

"You sure do like using your radio now, don't you buddy?"

"_Yes I do." _

"That's great! I'm happy for you, and I thought today we can have a day of fun. Just the two of us to celebrate." Raf didn't want to mention the true purpose in case Bee would refuse.

"_Let's get it started, hah!/Let's get it started in here."_

"Okay!" Raf said excitedly. Bumblebee opened the car door, and Raf climbed right in.

_**"What should we do first, partner?"**_ Bee asked excitedly.

"Well, since it's Saturday morning. I say we watch Saturday morning cartoons, and then decide on from there. Maybe play video games or go racing."

_**"Okay." **_Bumblebee opened his side door, and Raf crawled in. Then Bumblebee started up his engine and drove to the Autobot Outbase Omega One. It reminded him of the days when he and Bumblebee and sometimes Mikaela and later Miles and Leo would visit the other Autobots at Edwards Air Force Base, NEST's secret base in California. Bumblebee missed his human friends who fought alongside him and the Autobots against Decepticons and human terroristic organizations like al-Qaida. He hated that when he and the Autobots returned to Earth, they had to work in strict secrecy in an old missile silo with only Agent Fowler and members of the Defense Intelligence Agency. Not even Major Lennox or retired USAF Master Sergeant Epps or the rest of the NEST team were allowed to know of the Autobots' presence. Perhaps, it was to prevent the whole world from finding out like last time.

But most of all, Bee thought of Sam and how they would drive together for hours either going nowhere or going somewhere mostly to the overlook, or how he and Sam would lounge around in the garage and watch a movie or just talk. He remembered when Sam and Bumblebee went on their first road trip together, just him and Sam. They bonded so much over that road trip. Both of them needed it. He even remembered when Sam first told Bumblebee that Sam loved him like a brother. It was Bumblebee's most precious memory of Sam. That same day Bumblebee confessed his love for Sam, and it was that day that they were more than just friends but brothers in arms to the bitter end and beyond.

"Bee?" Raf interrupted Bee's trip to memory lane. "Is something wrong? You're usually hyper, talking to me all the way, but now you're so quiet."

_"I tell you it's alright."_

"Okay then," Raf said skeptically.

To ease Raf's suspicions, Bumblebee talked to him. He wasn't ready to talk about Sam. _**"So how was school yesterday?"**_

"It was okay."

_**"Top of the class as usual, **__making straight A's__**…**__on an honor roll__**?" **_Bumblebee teased.

Raf laughed. "You know me, Bumblebee. If I weren't around, all the school computers would crash into obliteration."

_**"It's a good thing they got you, and Ratchet, too."**_

"You bet!"

Five minutes later, they arrived at Autobot Outpost Omega One. Bumblebee opened the door for Raf. As soon as Raf climbed out, Bumblebee transformed into his bipedal mode. The Raf climbed the stairs and turned the TV on to a kids show, and up until noon, Raf and Bumblebee monopolized the TV, watching Saturday cartoons. As much as Bumblebee loved watching cartoons, especially with Raf, his mind was not in it. All he could think about was Sam, probably because in less than three days was the fifth anniversary of Sam's death. _I should really ask Optimus for temporary leave soon, _Bumblebee thought, _so that way he can be prepared without me around just in case._

To keep his charge from suspicion, Bumblebee did his best to keep his mind focused into the cartoons. Perhaps, they could cheer him up if for only a minute. Bumblebee needed a laugh, a break from this agonizing grief and gnawing guilt, and besides, it was nice to spend time with Raf.

When noon rolled in and the Saturday morning cartoons ended, Raf was hungry, and Bee could go for some energon. "I know!" Raf said, "Maybe you could bring some of your energon, and we could pick up some fast food, and then we could go out to the desert and eat out. Maybe even play videogames and race around the desert."

Bumblebee was excited for the prospect of a picnic, racing, and videogames so he said, _**"Good idea! Bring your remote controlled monster truck, too!"**_

"Okay! But we have to stop at my house first."

Bumblebee went to his room and grabbed his reserved share of energon. Then he transformed into his Camaro mode and Raf climbed right in. Bumblebee sped through the large door that Ms. Darby enters through with her car without so much as a goodbye to Ratchet. Bumblebee drove to Raf's house first where Raf rushed to his room to grab his remote controlled monster truck and a twenty dollar bill. Then they drove to KO Burger. Normally, Bumblebee would park in the parking lot, and Raf would walk inside to order rather than use the drive-thru and raise suspicion on why is there a twelve-year-old in the car with no driver, but luckily, Jack was working at the drive-thru that day so Raf and Bumblebee used the drive-thru.

"Hey Jack!" Raf greeted.

"_Hey ya! Hey ya!...Jack…" _Bumblebee greeted.

"Hey, Bumblebee. Man! It feels nice to be able to actually understand you rather than relying on Raf for a translation. Anyway, what are you guys doing here?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Raf asked, "I'm here for lunch."

"Sure. What it'll be?"

"I'll have the number one and a diet Coke please," Raf ordered.

"Okay then." Then to Bumblebee, Jack joked, "Sorry, Bee. We only carry human food."

Bumblebee played a clip of human laughter.

Jack smiled. "Your total amount is $13.20 plus tax."

Raf handled Jack the twenty dollar bill, and Jack gave Raf $6.80 back. "I'll make sure I'm the one who gives you your meal so no one will think that a twelve- year-old boy is driving a car."

"Okay. Thanks Jack!"

Bumblebee drove up to the next window and sure enough there was Jack. He handed the meal to Raf. "Here you go. Enjoy!"

"Thanks. I'll see you later at Base," Raf said.

"You, too. Bye bee."

"_Na na na na, na na na na/Hey hey hey/Goodbye_"

The two friends drove off to a secluded spot in the desert not too far from Base. Raf climbed out with his meal, his remote controlled monster truck, and Bee's energon. Then Bee transformed into his alternate form. He sat down on a large boulder, and offered his hand for Raf to climb on. Raf did and Bee placed him gently on his shoulder. Raf then gave Bumblebee his energon. The two began to eat (or in Bee's case drink) their meal.

"This is nice, isn't it?" Just two of us guys hanging out together alone," Raf said between bites of French fries.

_**"You've said it, partner!"**_

"What did you do for fun in Cybertron?" Raf asked.

Bee thought for moment and said, _**"Because of the war, I wasn't able to do much, but any chance I got, I raced a lot. I was really good. So good in fact I was nicknamed Speed Metal. I could have gone for pros if the civil war didn't exist. Racing, whether on land or in the skies, is the number one past time and entertainment. It's like America and baseball." **_Although Bumblebee could communicate this with his radio, he preferred to his old way of communication for Raf. It was there thing, proof that their bond goes beyond words. The radio was reserved for Sam.

"Is that why you wanted to go with Jack to race against Vince?"

_**"What can I say? I love the energon rush! It was the first time I raced since leaving Cybertron."**_

"Maybe if you scanned a go-cart, we could go racing together."

Bee played a clip of human laughter. _**"Go-carts aren't advanced enough for us to scan."**_

"I can't drive, but when I do get my license, maybe we can enter a race or something. There's got to be some kind of racecar competition for amateurs out there."

_**"That would be awesome!"**_

"But for now, let's see how fast you can really go!"

_**"You're on!"**_

Bumblebee took Raf off of him and then transformed. Raf climbed in the back seat, and in the blink of an eye, Bumblebee took off like lightening. They were going over a 120 mph across the desert sand. The whole terrain was there's to conquer, to show who's the fastest one to travel across the Great Basin. As the adrenaline pumped in and Raf's gleeful shouts as if he were on a rollercoaster, Bumblebee felt free the dark clouds that plagued him for five years. He felt invincible like nothing could touch him! He could feel his optics narrow in on the horizon and his mind focus in on the speed. To focus it even more, he pretended he was racing against his rival Hot Rod who's so overconfident that he thinks he could beat Speed Metal. _You'll never beat me, Hot Rod!_

Bee took a sharp turn around a pile of boulders, and for a moment, Raf thought they were gonna flip over, but Bee was an expert and knew the maximum amount of speed to use for turning without flipping over. He kept going, imagining that he's nose to nose with Hot Rod and the finish line – where Bee and Raf had lunch – was in the distance. He pushed harder and harder until the finish line could be seen clearer. The energon was burning until finally, Bee crossed it, and slowly braked until he came to a full stop. Then he drove at ten miles per hour as a cool down.

"Wow! You really are fast!"

"_**You bet I'm am!"**_ The feeling of freedom and invincibility slowly left, and the black clouds returned.

"You should definitely race some time." Then Raf quickly added, "Legally."

"_**When you're old enough, we'll race together, but for now, we'll race virtually like on **_**Super Mario Kart. **_**What do you say, partner? Wanna race?"**_

"You're so on, Bee!" Raf climbed up to the passenger seat, and Bumblebee (as Mario) and Raf (as Luigi) raced each other in various rounds with Bumblebee beating them all.

_**"Even in the virtual world, I'm still considered Speed Metal!" **_Bee taunted.

"Only because you've been driving longer than me," Raf reminded him.

_**"I still won, didn't I?"**_

"Yeah, yeah."

Then for the next half hour, Raf and Bumblebee played with Raf's new remote controlled monster truck, pretending it was at an actual monster truck rally. Bee used his radio to provide clips of monster truck rallies broadcasted on the radio to enhance the effect, and Raf pretended he was the actual driver, amazing audiences and smashing any car he can.

_**"You're starting to sound like Miko," **_Bumblebee commented.

"And if Ratchet were here, he would be looking down at you for reenacting a 'blood sport'."

_**"True."**_

It started to get late, and it was time to head home. Bumblebee dropped off Raf at his house and remained there to protect him in case any Decepticons tried to kidnap or kill Raf.

Before Raf left Bumblebee, Bee said, _**"Thanks for the celebration. I had fun."**_

"You're welcome, Bee. We should do it more often. Just us buds. Goodnight."

_"So long and goodnight." _

Raf left and went inside the house, leaving Bumblebee to dwell on another time when he would spend time with another human who's life disappeared as the sun set in the Western horizon.

* * *

><p><strong>Songs used<strong>

"_Hey hey hey…" _– Low by: Cracker

"_Yes I do." _- Yes I Do by: Rascal Flatts

"_Let's get it started, hah!/Let's get it started in here." _– Let's Get It Started by: The Black Eyed Peas

"_I tell you it's alright."_ – It's Alright by: 311

"…_making straight A's… on an honor roll…" _School of Rock (music from movie, _School of Rock)_

"_Hey ya! Hey ya!..." _– Hey Ya by: OutKast

"…_Jack…" _– Footloose by: Kenny Loggins

"_Na na na na, na na na na/Hey hey hey/Goodbye_" – Goodbye by: Kristina DeBarge

"_So long and goodnight." _– Helena by: My Chemical Romance


	3. Memory of a Friend

**Another update! Two updates on 2 stories in one day. A new record, and a great way to celebrate my B-day.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own transformers - movie or cartoon**

* * *

><p>It was nighttime, and the stars were out in their full glory, turning the night sky from black to navy blue. Everyone in Nevada was asleep except for folks in Las Vegas. And Bee.<p>

It was one of those nights Bee couldn't help but remember something twelve years ago – his most precious memory:

_It was almost year since the battle of Mission City. It was a calm night, and I was recharging peacefully in Sam's garage, sleeping to the sound of crickets outside. It was so peaceful until_

_CRASH!_

_I instantly wake up only to see a silhouette of a young man. As the silhouette got closer, details became apparent. It was Sam. I transform to my default form._

_"Sam. _What are you doing here_?_"

_"What? Can't a guy enter his own garage to say high to his best buddy?"_

_I played some audience laughter._ "kttccccht – _Not at two in the morning."_

_"Well, I've just been thinking," Sam said. Then he walked closer to me, and I let him sit in my hand. I bring him closer to my chassis and cradle him there._

_"About what?"_

_"About everything that's happen since I've first met you before I knew who you really were. I just can't believe it all really happened. I'm half expecting to walk in the garage and find you gone because you were just some crazy hallucination or something," Sam explained._

"Never will I leave you/That's something I'll never do/Remember that it's true"

_"I'm just saying. I know you're real. I was just using a figure of speech to describe how I feel when I said the thing about hallucinating," Sam clarified. "But that's another thing. Optimus appointed you to be my guardian, and yet you act like I'm your best friend whom you willingly choose to protect with your life. I'm not saying it's a bad thing. I like how you act that way, but what I wanna know is why?"_

"I don't know…Maybe it's because…I'm bonded with…_you."_

_"What do you mean?"_

_In my real voice I said, "Cybertronians are highly social beings. We make friends fast, but sometimes we might come upon one or a few Cybertronians who become more than friends but like siblings. Kinda like a best friend. I just happened to make a fast friend in you, but you became more than just a friend. You're my best friend. You're my brother."_

_"Okay. That makes sense. I was just wondering." Sam was silent for a minute, and then said, "You know? Based on what you just said and what happened to me for the past year, I've been thinking. When I first met you, I didn't even know what you truly were, and therefore, I never got o know you on a personal level, and when I finally found out, I never got to really bond with you because you were captured, and even when I was able to rescue you, I never got the time to really know you. It wasn't until after Ratchet fixed your legs that I got to bond with you. And yet, when you handed me the AllSpark, I knew I just couldn't leave you even if it meant putting humanity and the Autobots in danger. I just couldn't do it. You and Optimus had to convince me. It was like that all the times I spent with you, despite it being in battle or in naivety, I just suddenly knew everything about you." Sam glanced up at Bee's face. "Do you get what I'm saying?" _

_I nodded. I knew exactly what Sam was saying because that's what I felt although I got to know him better just by observing his behavior and personality. I wanted to say something, but Sam looked like he had more to say._

_And I was right as Sam said, "You know, Bee?" Bee. My new nickname that Sam and only Sam calls me. I like it. It makes me feel closer to him. "Miles is my best friend, but that's it. It's not like he's a brother to me. In all honesty, when I go to college and knowing him, bums around at his parents' house, I don't think we'll really see each other much or really stay in touch. I knew him since fourth grade, and we've been friends ever since, but it doesn't feel like that same quality of friendship that crosses the line between best friend and brother. With you, it feels different. I only known you for nine months, and yet, I feel like you're my brother, someone I can tell everything to, things that I can't even tell my parents or Mikaela or even Miles. Someone I can just let go and be myself around. Do you know what I mean?"_

_This time, I talked. "Yes, because I feel the exact same way, too. I was the last generation born from the AllSpark during the war. Growing up, I never knew what peacetime was. It was just war, and therefore, I had to become a soldier has soon as I was no longer a youngling. I never truly got to experience just being with a friend and doing nothing but just hanging out or talking or even playing. It's like there's no war, and I forget about it when I'm around you."_

_"Bee?" Sam asked._

_"Yeah?"_

_"I love you."_

_I was taken aback by those three simple but powerful words. Sam had never uttered them to me, but I knew he felt them, and now he was confessing his feelings. Sam loved me as a brother, and I loved him as a brother also. He was my brother in arms, my partner in crime, my best friend. My brother._

_"I love you, too," I said._

_Sam smiled and then yawned. _

_"You're tired. You need sleep. You should go back to bed now."_

_"Yes mom."_

_I chuckled. I transformed into a 2007 Camaro around Sam so when the transformation was complete, Sam was safely inside. "Night, Bee. I love you," Sam mumbled and then fell asleep. I'll never get tired of hearing those words._

_"Goodnight. I love you, too," I said before falling back into recharge._

It's been twelve years since that night, and now Sam was dead. Bee's brother was dead. Now Raf was like a brother to Bee (even Raf called Bumblebee "Bee"; the only person to do so besides Sam), but Raf was like a little brother while Sam was more of a peer, and besides, Raf never said he loved Bee, but Bee didn't care. He knew Raf loved him and vice versa.

Bumblebee couldn't wait any longer. He had to leave Jasper and journey to California, and he had to do it NOW. Bumblebee drove away from Raf's house and to base. He felt guilty for leaving Raf unguarded and without a goodbye, but Bumblebee knew Raf will be alright for the night, and Ratchet will look after him for the time he's gone. He also didn't want Raf to know where and why he's leaving, and Bumblebee couldn't lie to Raf. Bumblebee just couldn't bring himself to talk about Sam.

After a thirty minutes later, Bumblebee made it to the Autobot Outbase Omega One just in time to see Optimus Prime about to call it a night for himself. Bumblebee quickly transformed into his bipedal form. _**"Optimus Prime?"**_

Optimus turned around to see Bumblebee standing and looking…broken. "Is something wrong, Bumblebee? You're usually at Raf's house guarding him.

Ignoring, Optimus's question, Bumblebee asked, _**"Sir, may I request a five day leave?"**_

"You want to visit Sam's grave, don't you?" Optimus didn't even need an answer.

_**"Yes, sir. The fifth anniversary of Sam's death in few days, and I want to see him."**_

"You may have your temporary leave. When do you plan on leaving?"

_**"Tonight, but Optimus?"**_

"Yes?"

_**"Don't tell Raf, Miko, or Jack about why I'm gone. Just say you've sent me on a five day scouting mission or something. I don't want the, especially Raf to know the truth. I'm not ready for them to know."**_

"Understood. What about Bulkhead? He doesn't know about Sam."

_**"Just tell him the same thing. I don't care if Arcee and Ratchet know. They already know who Sam is."**_

"Okay then. Good luck on your journey." Optimus turned around and left for his room, but before he moved so much as five feet, he stopped and said, "Tell Sam I said hi, okay?"

_**"Okay."**_

Since Ratchet was the only one besides Optimus at base, Bumblebee thought he might as well say goodbye. Ratchet is usually up late. And sure enough there was Ratchet staring at the bright glow of the monitors.

_**"Goodbye, Racthet. I'm leaving to visit Sam's grave. I'll be back in five days."**_

"Oh, you're leaving so soon?"

_**"Yeah, don't tell Bulkhead, Raf, Miko, or Jack about where I am. I don't care if Arcee knows. I asked Optimus the same thing. If they ask, just say I'm on a five day scouting mission or something."**_

"You know they'll have to find out about Sam eventually, especially Raf," Ratchet explained.

_**"Well, when I'm ready to talk, but for now, goodbye."**_

"Well, here. Tell me the coordinates of Sam's grave, and I'll groundbridge you there."

_**"No thanks. I'm gonna drive there."**_

"That's a two day journey!"

_**"I know which is why I requested five days off, and besides, I need some time to think before I visit Sam and talk to him, something I haven't done for five years."**_

"Well okay then. Bye. Tell Sam we all miss him."

Bee smiled. _**"He's the only human you weren't so aloof towards at first."**_

"Well, we were purposely looking for him rather than just randomly picking him up, and besides, Sam has saved our race and his own many times saved Optimus's life twice and killed Megatron. You gotta respect a human like that."

_**"Well, okay. Bye." **_Bumblebee transformed into a 2017 Camaro.

"Bye, Bumblebee. I'll look after Raf for you."

_**"Thanks!" **_

Bumblebee exited though the large doors and drove off into the cool night air where the stars shone above where Bumblebee was convinced that one of the stars was Sam looking down at him, watching over Bumblebee.

* * *

><p><strong>Songs used:<strong>

"… What are you doing here…" – Miss Right by: Ne-Yo

"Never will I leave you/That's something I'll never do/Remember that it's true" – Never Will I Leave You by: Michael Card

"I don't know…" – I Don't Know by: Beastie Boys

"…Maybe it's because…" – Maybe It's Because by: Louis Armstrong

"…I'm bonded with…" – Bonded by: Tait


	4. Life is a Highway

**Ch. 4 is up.! Sorry it took so long. Disclaimer: I don't own transformers. I don't even know who does**

* * *

><p>Bumblebee drove in the darkness of the desert night, speeding beyond the posted speed limit. He didn't care. He needed to think, and he needed to get to Sam now! And speed helps him do that. Maybe if he drove fast enough, he could go to the same place Sam was.<p>

No! He couldn't do that. Not when Raf still depended on him.

And besides, when Transformers die, their sparks become one with the energy of the AllSpark. When humans die, they go to Heaven or Hell or some other place or no place depending on what they believed in. But then again, with the AllSpark gone, where would he go when he died? Wherever it was, he just hoped Sam was there, too.

Speaking of death, Bumblebee could not help but remember Sam's last hour.

"NO, RATCHET!"_ Sam screamed just after Shockwave made quick work of Ratchet. All there was left was a flood of energon, various chunks of green metal, and part of the body with Ratchet's head. Bumblebee could see that Ratchet was still alive as his still remaining body twitched. All Bumblebee wanted to do was run up to Ratchet and carry him to safety, to a med bay, anywhere where Ratchet could be safe and healed, but Ratchet's words stopped all intentions of doing so._

_"Go…Bee…take Sam," Ratchet weakly said, and then his head dropped. Both Sam and Bee feared that Ratchet truly died. Sam wanted to run to Ratchet to make sure he hadn't offlined yet and so did Bumblebee, but when he saw that hulking for of Shockwave coming closer, Bumblebee scooped up a screaming Sam, pressed him against his chassis and transformed around him so that Sam was safely in his backseat._

_Sam's eyes were fixed on Ratchet. He turned around. "Bumblebee, we gotta go back! Ratchet will die if we don't save him!" _

"I can't go on…gonna fly now…save you while there's still something left to save." _Bee played, hoping to convey Ratchet's last orders._

_Sam calmed down as he understood what Bumblebee meant beneath the strings of broken lyrics of a few songs. Then through Bumblebee's rearview mirror, Bumblebee could see the hulking form of Shockwave coming closer at a surprisingly fast speed. Bumblebee sped up. Then to his relief, Shockwave stopped running._

_To his horror, Shockwave raised his cannon and fired upon Bee and Sam._

_Through those short seconds, all Bumblebee could see was blurred yellow pieces metal and felt no ground beneath him as his world turned upside down. Somewhere in the distance, Sam screamed. Then nighttime came sooner than expected._

_When Bumblebee woke up, Shockwave was nowhere to be found, but Sam was ten feet away from Bee. Bumblebee transformed back into his true form and dragged himself to where Sam was. At first, Bumblebee thought Sam was unconscious, but when he saw that Sam wasn't breathing…_

_Ten feet away but gone forever_

_All Bumblebee could do was pick up Sam and cradle him and rock him as Bumblebee played songs about loss and mimic human crying, similar to how he did five years ago when Sam told him that Bumblebee couldn't come to Princeton University with him. Bumblebee's whole world ended in that little moment. It took Raf a month to rebuild it, and it's still not even finished._

_So what could I say to Sam? _Bumblebee thought, _Sorry that I couldn't save you? Sorry that I couldn't protect you? I love you? That I'm so sorry?_ The guilt ate at Bumblebee as he failed to protect his charge. _At least Ratchet survived, _Bumblebee thought, but a small part of him wanted Sam to be the survivor and Ratchet to be dead. That small part revolted Bee enough that if he were human, he would be puking his guts out.

Bumblebee drove on, and the night sky turned from black to navy blue. He needed something to help him cope with all the bad memories, something to help him deal with the grief as he got closer and closer to Sam's grave. He scanned through the various radio stations, and selected a song. Not just any song but his and Sam's song. It was"Life is a Highway" by Tom Cochrane. Bumblebee remembered going for a drive with Sam, and this song came on the radio. Sam turned up the volume and analyzed the lyrics in the head. After Sam shared his interpretation of the song being about two lovers or two close friends sharing life together, Sam decided to make it their song. It worked perfectly. Bumblebee, being a car, fit the highway analogy, and he and Sam were best friends – brothers – sharing life together in their own special way. They'd been through so much together. Bumblebee cranked up the volume.

_Life's like a road that you travel on  
>When there's one day here and the next day gone<br>Sometimes you bend sometimes you stand  
>Sometimes you turn your back to the wind<br>There's a world outside every darkened Door  
>Where blues won't haunt you anymore<br>Where the brave are free and lovers soar  
>Come ride with me to the distant shore<br>We won't hesitate break down the garden gate  
>There's not much left today<em>

As Bumblebee picked up speed to the rhythmic words of Tom Cochrane, he felt his processors steady. The song brought up so many memories, precious memories that now bring up more pain than fond remembrance all because of Sam's murder. If it weren't for the cool night air and the 120 mph speed, Bumblebee's processors would be going on the fritz. Speed makes everything in Bee's world alright. If only temporarily. He just hoped he made it to Sam's grave in time.

_Life is a highway  
>I want to ride it all night long<br>If you're going my way  
>I want to drive it all night long<em>

He wished Sam was in his driver's seat right now like back in the old days in which Sam would sit in the driver's seat, and Bumblebee would just drive on some random highway to nowhere. Sometimes they talked to each other, sometimes they listened to music, or sometimes they would just sit in silence, enjoying the scenery and each other's company. It didn't matter which as long as they were together. And each time, they felt fully alive and ready to take on the whole wide world. As long as they were together.

_Through all the cities and all these towns_  
><em>It's in my blood and it's all around<em>  
><em>I love you now like I loved you then<em>  
><em>This is the road and these are the hands<em>  
><em>From Mozambique to those Memphis nights<em>  
><em>The Khyber pass to Vancouver's lights<em>  
><em>Knock me down get back up again<em>  
><em>You're in my blood I'm not a lonely man<em>

But now, Sam was dead. He could never feel truly alive, racing down the highway, and even though Bumblebee was in good shape, racing down the highway at full speed was never the same again. It felt like there was something just about to burst through the surface, something that used to come so easily when it was just him and Sam, but not anymore. It never busted through. Sam took a part of Bee's spark to the grave.

_There's no load I can't hold_  
><em>Road so rough this I know<em>  
><em>I'll be there when the light comes in<em>  
><em>Tell 'em we're survivors<em>

They both thought they were invincible, and just look at their past! It proved it! Sam died but came back. Bumblebee survived grievous torture at Tyger Pax, and escaped an execution by the hands of Soundwave. They both had been through hell and back. They were survivors, brothers in arm, but now only one remains standing tall (relatively) while the other is preserved in a mausoleum. So much for survivors.

_Life is a highway  
>I want to ride it all night long<br>If you're going my way  
>I want to drive it all night long<em>

Bumblebee kept edging himself on. He felt like that if he didn't speed up, he'll be too late. It's an irrational thought. Sam isn't going anywhere, but what could Bee do? He just wanted to be free from sadness.

_Life is a highway  
>I want to ride it all night long<br>If you're going my way  
>I want to drive it all night long<em>

If it were possible, Bumblebee wanted to literally ride forever on Life's highway with Sam, but he can't. Maybe in the afterlife, he and Sam can ride on forever on Death's highway. That is, if they go to the same place when they died. If not, Bumblebee did not know how he could go on forever without Sam. It was his fault Sam's dead, but that doesn't mean he could be forgiven, right? Sam would forgive him. If only Bee could forgive himself. _Oh, Sam_, Bumblebee thought, _I'm so sorry. Please, Primus, please let me be reunited with Sam someday. I want to go to the same place Sam is at even if it's the humans' Hell._

_Through all the cities and all these towns  
>It's in my blood and it's all around<br>I love you now like I loved you then  
>This is the road and these are the hands<br>From Mozambique to those Memphis nights  
>The Khyber pass to Vancouver's lights <em>

_Sam, I love you, and I'm coming for you. Just hold on._ Bumblebee repeated this in his head over and over again, filling him with strength and speed. The guilt ate at Bee's spark, and he thought of words to convey just how much the agony feels, but buried within that guilt and overwhelming sadness, is a deep love for his brother, and if he didn't harbor this love, and the guilt and grief wouldn't exist. It was a beautiful agony that Bee wouldn't trade for the world. No, the only way that the pain would subside is that Sam would either come back to life or Bee went back in time and prevented Sam's death. Maybe Bee could tell Sam that. Sam would like it. What would Sam say to Bee?

_Knock me down get back up again  
>You're in my blood I'm not a lonely man<br>_

It was twilight, but some die hard stars remained, refusing to be blinded by the sun's light and holding on to the last bit of life. They reminded Bee of Sam. Perhaps Sam was one of those stars and is looking down at Bee. Bee liked to think that. It made him feel safe and less lonely. He could feel Sam's presence in his spark.

_There's no load I can't hold  
>Road so rough this I know<br>I'll be there when the light comes in  
>Tell 'em we're survivors<em>

They'd been through so much together that their road was bumpy most of the time. Times were tough, but they always had each other. They made it, but how can Bee make it alone? Bumblebee didn't know, but he always had Raf. Raf has done so much for Bee without him even realizing it. Somehow Bee survived. If only just barely.

_Life is a highway  
>I want to ride it all night long<br>If you're going my way  
>I want to drive it all night long<em>

_Sam, please forgive me. _Bumblebee would definitely have to ask Sam that. Sam would always forgive Bee. But no matter how many times Bee is forgiven, he will always harbor this guilt in his spark. Not even a cool night's drive could temporarily soothe it.

_Life is a highway  
>I want to ride it all night long<br>If you're going my way  
>I want to drive it all night long<em>

_I'm going as fast as I can Sam._ Bumblebee sped up.

_There was a distance between you and I  
>A misunderstanding once but now<br>We look it in the eye_

Bumblebee wondered if he should tell Sam about his adventures with Raf. Would Sam feel jealous like Bumblebee was replacing Sam in his spark? Raf even calls Bumblebee the same nickname Sam gave him. If Bumblebee decided to tell Raf about Sam, he would have to reassure him that not even Raf could replace Sam in his spark, and no matter what, Bumblebee thought of Sam everyday and wished he were here with Bee now.

_There's no load I can't hold_  
><em>Road so rough this I know<em>  
><em>I'll be there when the light comes in<em>  
><em>Tell 'em we're survivors<em>

They say time heals all wounds. Well, that's just a fucking lie. It's been five years since Sam's death and no wounds have been healed. Sure, physically, Bumblebee is good as new (minus his voice), but emotionally, he's still a wreck only better at hiding it. Bumblebee was a warrior in his own inner turmoil. So far he's survived. With Raf, Bumblebee's a survivor, but if Raf joins the reason for Bee's war, than Bee might as well pint his cannon at his own spark. He could only survive for so long.

_Life is a highway  
>I want to ride it all night long<br>If you're going my way  
>I want to drive it all night long<em>

_So what's the highway like on the other side, Sam? _Bee should ask that. He definitely should. _Maybe one day we can drive together on that highway if our gods would allow it._

_Life is a highway  
>I want to ride it all night long<br>If you're going my way  
>I want to drive it all night long<em>

_Sam, I'm coming for you, _Bumblebee thought, _just hold on, and I'll be there by tomorrow. And when my time is up, we'll ride on forever._

_Life is a highway  
>I want to ride it all night long<br>If you're going my way  
>I want to drive it all night long<em>

So Bumblebee drove on into the pinking dawn, and he drove and drove, never ceasing to stop until night came along in which Bumblebee found himself in a small town in California. He found a convenience store and parked in the far back of the parking lot recharged.

* * *

><p><strong>Songs used:<strong>

**"I can't go on…" – Can't Go On by: Group 1 Crew**

**"…gonna fly now…" Gonna Fly Now by: Bill Conti**

**"…save you while there's still something left to save." – Savior by: Rise Against**


	5. Gone Bumblebee Gone

**Another update! Disclaimer: I don't own Transformers**

* * *

><p><strong>Meanwhile…<strong>

Jack, Miko, and Raf arrived at Autobot Outbase Omega One. Each kid rushed to their respective guardians, but Raf could not find Bumblebee. _Perhaps it has to do with why Bee's so acting weirdly, _Raf thought. Optimus was close by so Raf decided to ask him.

"Hey, Optimus?"

"Yes?"

"Where's Bumblebee?"

"I've sent him on a five day scouting mission. He'll be back soon."

"Five days! What are you guys looking for?"

"It's…classified information from your government." Optimus hoped the lie would work. He didn't want to lie to the boy so he came up with some lie that he wouldn't be forced to elaborate. He already told his troops this lie. Only Bulkhead believed it. Arcee and Ratchet were the only ones who really understood the truth behind it.

"But wouldn't that be dangerous? I mean you guys usually work as a team, and you have the Groundbridge."

"Raf, I can assure you that Bumblebee will be fine. He has gone on much more dangerous missions than before. This mission is simply just a means of national security. There should be little Decepticon threat."

"Well, okay if you say so," Raf said, but something told him that it was all a lie. Bumblebee wouldn't leave without saying goodbye. No matter how urgent the mission.

"For the mean time, Ratchet will look after you, and I asked Arcee and Bulkhead to keep out an extra optic on you," Optimus said.

"Okay."

Raf went to the stairs that leads to the catwalk. He thought maybe he could play some videogames with Miko or Raf. However, he bumped into Arcee. "Hey, Arcee."

"Hi, Raf."

"Can you believe it? Bumblebee's off on a five day scouting mission, and he didn't even say goodbye. What if he gets hurt?" Raf wasn't sure why he said this to Arcee. Maybe he wanted to verify something.

"Bumblebee's fine. He's a scout. He knows what he's doing, and he's been through worse before. The only reason Bumblebee didn't say goodbye because it was probably urgent."

"Wait? Bumblebee's gone?" Jack asked from up on the catwalk.

Before Arcee could answer, Bulkhead cut in. "Yeah, some five day long scouting trip, and I don't like the idea of it! One of us should be with him for backup. Plus, it seems out of character for Optimus to assign him on a weeklong scouting trip when we got a Groundbridge to make things easier."

"Bumblebee may not be a soldier yet, but he's a fighter. He'll be okay. Just _trust_ Optimus. This _isn'_t the first time Bumblebee had to go on a mission like this," Arcee said. Raf noticed the underlying persuasiveness in Arcee's tone that conveyed some kind of secret contradicting the facts, something Arcee wanted Bulkhead to understand so he wouldn't do anything stupid. Call him crazy, but Raf was just that observant. He learned to be that way growing up with two older sisters and two older brothers along with two busy parents. He needed to understand moods to know when the best time to get some kind of attention is.

"Maybe Bumblebee will bring us back a souvenir," chirped Miko from the couch.

"Maybe," Raf muttered. In a louder voice, he said, "But I kinda find it unusual that he would be sent away for five days. Optimus has never send you guys away for more than a day. Also, I'm worried about him, too."

"It's unusual for you because Optimus hasn't done so before while you kids were around, but Bumblebee has gone on scouting trips before that lasted more than a day requested personally by Optimus, and don't worry. Bumblebee will be _fine_, " Arcee comforted.

"Thanks, Arcee," Raf didn't believe it. Well, not all of it. It may be true that Bumblebee has been on scouting trips before that last a long time, but something told Raf that Bumblebee was on no scouting trip, and he may not be alright.

"You're welcome," Arcee said and walked away.

Raf walked up the stairs and joined Miko on the couch. For the next two hours, he and Miko played Mario Go-Kart. When Jack wanted to play, Raf raced against Jack because Raf had just beaten Miko. Eventually, Raf got tired of playing, and Jack and Miko battled it out. Raf hung around to cheer them on, but eventually, Raf got bored with that, too, and wanted to do something else. _Man, _he thought, _it's so boring without Bumblebee. I wish he was here._" Then Raf looked in the direction of a hallway that lead to the Transformers' rooms. _Speaking of Bumblebee, _Raf thought, _maybe I can explore his room. Wait, that's wrong. I'll be invading his privacy. That's something only Miko would think of._ Raf looked at the Autobots and Jack and Miko: Jack and Miko were absorbed in their game; Ratchet was working on further perfecting the synthetic energon; Optimus was reporting to Agent Fowler through the Autobot version of Skype; Arcee and Bulkhead were in the far corner talking about something in their native language. Then Raf looked back and peered down the hallway. _Maybe I should. There could be clues as to what's wrong with Bee. He's my best buddy after all, and friends help friends in their time of need. I…just won't tell him that I trespassed into his room._

So that's just what Raf did. He quietly climbed down the stairs and and made himself scarce and quiet and went down the hallway. It wasn't that hard, actually. Everyone was absorbed in what they were doing. _Just like home, _Raf thought. Raf found Bee's room to be the last room on the right. Slowly, Raf entered through the human-sized door and looked around. Raf had been here only once and that was when ratchet asked Raf to go get Bee from his room. It was nothing special – a berth, a storage for personal rations of energon, and a chest for some personal items. Raf went there first. The chest was as high as Jack was tall so Raf ran to the berth and grabbed a stepladder that Bee kept for Raf. Raf pulled that up to the chest and climbed up on top. Then he came to a new obstacle. The chest was password locked. _No problem, _Raf thought, _I have a pretty good what Bee's password is. _However, all the letters or whatever they were supposed to be were written in Cyberglyphs. Bumblebee did teach Raf a little bit of Cybertronian, and Ratchet taught Raf a little more so Raf just typed the Cybertronian word for friends and the chest immediately opened.

Luckily, there was enough stuff in it that could act like a substitute stepladder. Raf climbed right in and shifted through some stuff. Most of it was various data chips that held information, probably personal stuff like a diary. Raf ignored those. They were probably all written with Cyberglyphs, ones that Raf couldn't read. Then he found data chips that store holopics. Knowing how to work those, raf activated them and went through them. Most of them were of Team Prime before and after Miko, Jack, and he stumbled into their lives. Then there were some of Cybertron before war totally consumed the planet. They included Autobots familiar and unfamiliar to Raf. Then there were others that really confused Raf. They were of Autobots – some familiar, some not – with military soldiers in some military base that was not Autobot Outbase Omega One. It was bigger and whiter. Raf realized that two soldiers particularly showed up the most – a bald African American man and a Caucasian man with dark brown hair in the style of a crew cut. He also noticed that both soldiers and all soldiers had some kind of logo on their uniforms with the Autobot symbol and the acronym NEST. _What does NEST mean? _Raf wondered but quickly went back to his searching. He found other holopics of Bumblebee with a civilian boy and a civilian girl. The boy had short brown hair and the girl had jet black hair and was very beautiful. Raf noticed that they looked relaxed and friendly around Bumblebee, especially the boy. In some pictures they were high school aged, and in others they were college aged. Eventually, the pictures turned into Bumblebee with the boy who now looks like he's in his mid to late twenties and an equally beautiful blonde girl, same age as the boy. The girl also looked just as friendly with Bumblebee although there were less pictures of the boy, the blonde-haired girl, andBumblebee than they're were of the boy, the black haired girl, and Bumblebee. There were also a few pictures of just Bumblebee and the boy.

Raf felt his right leg falling asleep so he shifted hit and heard a papery movement caused by his right foot. Raf leaned over and found a picture taken by an Earth camera. It was Bumblebee holding the boy (mid to late twenties) in his hand, and the boy had his arms around Bee's neck and face pressed against Bee's face, hugging him. They were both smiling (or at least Raf assumed Bee would smile in this scene) and were content in each other's presence. Raf turned the picture over. In someone's handwriting, it said _Bumblebee and Sam, June 21, 2014._

_Who is Sam? _Raf thought, _is he the reason why Bee was acting so weird and why he's away? _Raf took the picture and stuffed it in his jeans pocket. He wanted to ask Ratchet about him. Raf checked his cell phone and realized it was almost four and soon Raf will have to leave. Raf decided that he'll take the picture with him and ask Ratchet tomorrow. Maybe he can look up Sam on the Internet and NEST, too. Raf climbed out, closed the chest which automatically locked itself shut, and climbed down the ladder. He put the ladder away where he found it and left the room quietly and without a trace except for a missing picture.

* * *

><p><strong>Sorry. No songs today<strong>


	6. Story of Sam

**Sorry for the long wait! Disclaimer: I don't own Transformers**

* * *

><p>The next day was Sunday. At ten in the morning, Bulkhead gave Raf a ride to base. Miko chatted on excessively to him, but Raf didn't even bother listening. He was too absorbed in his discovery yesterday and thought of how to approach his question to Ratchet. Ratchet had to know who Sam was, doesn't he? If not Ratchet, maybe Optimus. Surely Optimus would know if a human knew of their existence. As soon as Bulkhead dropped off Raf, he sped off with Miko for an exciting morning of dune bashing. Raf knew Jack wouldn't be here. Jack had to work extra hours at KO Burger, and Arcee was most likely with him. So it was just Raf, Optimus, and Ratchet. Wait. Where is Optimus?<p>

"Hey, Ratchet?" Raf asked.

"Mhmmm?" Ratchet grunted.

"Where's Optimus?"

"On patrol," Ratchet said bluntly.

"Oh okay." Raf decide that this was his chance to ask. He dug in his jeans pocket for that photograph. Then he asked, "Ratchet?"

"What?" Ratchet asked without so much as looking at him.

"Who's Sam?"

That's it – the bombshell. Ratchet suddenly paused from his work and turned to face Raf, surprise etched on his face. "H-How did you find out?" Ratchet thought Raf didn't know about Sam. Bumblebee never talked about him.

Raf held up the photograph, and Ratchet bent down to take a look. It was a picture of Bumblebee and Sam a few months before Sam died. Ratchet got up, and raf put the picture away.

"Where did you get that picture?"

"In Bumblebee's room." Ratchet gave him a look. "I was worried about Bee and wanted to know what was wrong so I looked around his room and found this along with other pictures of Sam and some humans and Autobots I've never seen before."

"Bee," Ratchet said quietly.

"Huh?"

"Bee," Ratchet said louder, "Sam was the first one to call Bumblebee that. You're the only one besides Sam who uses Bumblebee's nickname."

"So you do know who Sam is? Tell me."

Ratchet sighed. "I shouldn't be telling you since Bumblebee doesn't want you to know yet, but you being his friend, I guess you should know. Just don't tell the others."

"Okay."

"Sam was Bumblebee's first charge and best friend. More than friends really. They were like brothers. They even loved each other as if they were."

Raf never even thought that Bumblebee used to guard someone before him. The very idea of Bee having a human best friend before Raf seemed hard to swallow. "What happened?"

"Sam was killed five years ago. Today is the fifth anniversary of his death day. That's why Bee really left. He wanted to visit Sam's grave for the first time in five years."

"Five years? I thought you guys were only on Earth for three years."

"No, well sort of. Only Bulkhead and Cliffjumper have been on Earth for three years. The rest of us have been on Earth before since 2007 Bumblebee since 2003. Up until 2014, we have formed an alliance with the humans and worked in NEST, a human/Autobot defense force against the Decepticons and later other human threats. Back then there were a lot more of us, but with the unexpected revival of Megatron who decided to leave Earth with his Decepticon army for some reason, we had to leave Earth and follow him. Many Autobots from NEST were killed in the unexpected Decepticon ambush so unfortunately, we had to rely on the human members of NEST to keep Earth safe. Then in 2015 when the _Nemesis _was spotted in Earth's atmosphere, Optimus, Bumblebee, Arcee, and me returned to Earth bringing Bulkhead and Cliffjumper. However, circumstances on Earth changed while we were gone, and the government wanted us working in secret without human partners to minimize human casualties so NEST was disbanded, and we've became known as Team Prime."

Raf would like to know more about this story, but his primary focus was getting to know more about Sam. "Cool! But who killed Sam and why?"

"Shockwave killed him. He was a Decepticon scientist who took logic to an extreme. Optimus killed him two years prior, but somehow, Shockwave managed to resurrect himself. For some unknown reason, he launched a second attack on NEST. This time at Edwards Air Force Base rather than Diego Garcia, killing more Autobots than before. He was looking for Sam for some unknown reason and knew he was in California with NEST. Bee took Sam and drove away to safety while I attempted to hold Shockwave back. Shockwave nearly killed me, and then shot Bumblebee, killing Sam. He was twenty-three when he died. Bumblebee has never stopped blaiming himself since then."

"Why did Shockwave wanted Sam dead so badly?"

"Who knows? Retaliation for helping in the Autobot cause maybe or maybe it was to break us. Sam is the Autobots' must trusted human ally. Even Prime considers Sam a friend. Anyway, it couldn't have been personal. They never met personally, but Shockwave's attack on Bumblebee was the reason why Bumblebee lost the ability to speak through his radio until now. Before that, Bumblebee was able to use his voice just a little bit, but had to rely on his radio. Now he can't rly on his voice box ever again."

"You said Sam was the Autobots' most trusted human ally. What's so special about him?"

"Well, unlike you, Jack, and Miko who were never meant to get involved, we actively seeked out Sam who's great-grandfather's glasses contained coordinates to the AllSpark's location. Actually, Bumblebee came to Earth, looking for Sam. That's how he became the boy's guardian. Well, the Decepticons wanted to use the AllSpark to create weapons out of Earth's technology while we wanted to rebuild Cybertron. When all hope seemed loss, Optimus asked Sam to shove the AllSpark into Prime's chassis which would destroy them both. Instead Sam used it to destroy Megatron and the AllSpark."

"He _killed _Megatron?" Raf was aghast. He'd knew Optimus had tried to kill Megatron, and Arcee almost did it, but he never thought a human would be able to.

"Yeah, and Megatron would have stayed dead if Scalpel, Ravage, Long Haul, Rampage, Mixmaster, and Scrapmetal didn't resurrect him! Anyway, that not the only time Sam saved Optimus's tailpipe. When Optimus died protecting Sam, Sam went on a journey to Egypt to recover the Matrix of Leadership –"

"Wait! I thought Primus gave Optimus the Matrix of Leadership."

"He did. Actually, there are two Matrices of Leadership. The one Sam used belong to the 13 original Primes. That Matrix was a key to the Sun Harvester, a device used to destroy suns for energon. It would have been passed down from Prime to Prime if they hadn't sealed it away from Megatronus, the Fallen Prime. The one Optimus was bestowed upon was a new Matrix that Primus created, turning him into a Prime. Anyway, Sam used the Matrix of Leadership to resurrect Optimus, and just like the Matrix Optimus carried, the one Sam carried is earned as the Original Primes deamed Sam worthy of carrying it and revived Sam after dying from Megatron's fusion blast. Then a few years later, Sam gathered vital information on Sentinel Prime, Optimus's predecessor who threatened the Earth, and fought alongside us, turning the tide of war in our favor."

"Miko would be so jealous of Sam. He's basically like us – a human civilian who first met you guys at sixteen, guarded by you guys, but mostly by his guardian, and yet he gets to go on all these cool adventures and do more for you guys."

"Yes, Miko would be insanely jealous, but in a way, Sam's a lot like Jack only a bit more…awkward and a lower self-esteem."

"How so?"

"They look a little alike. They both met us at sixteen, but the primary difference is that they were deemed worthy of holding a valuable Cybertronian artifact, belonging to a Prime, and used it to restore Optimus. Sam was deemed worthy by the Original Primes to wield the Matrix of Leadership and resurrect Optimus. Optimus deemed Jack worthy of guarding the Key to Vector Sigma which turned into the Matrix of Leadership in which jack used to restore Orion Pax into Optimus Prime."

"I guess there's more than meets the eye to both of them," Raf commented. Sam seemed like an interesting guy. He wished he could meet him. Well, as long as Sam would share Bumblebee with him.

"I guess so," Ratchet agreed.

"But still why did Bumblebee never tell me about Sam?"

"It was too painful for Bumblebee to talk about. As soon as Sam died, Bumblebee refused to let go of Sam's body, cradling it like a sparkling. When we finally had to pry Sam's body out of Bumblebee's fingers, he flung himself into a never rending cycle of guilt, self-blame, and depression. He shut himself from the world, pounding his fists on walls until he broke the structure. He was worse than when he had to deal with the trauma of Tyger Pax. Bumblebee never stopped blaming himself and questioned if he was even useful at all. The only time he wasn't an emotional wreck is when he came to Sam's funeral. Optimus, Arcee, a few others, and I went also. It was probably because Bumblebee wanted to prove to us he can handle this, but you could feel the agony in his spark."

"Bumblebee seems so happy now. What changed?"

"Well, naturally, he learned to move on, well, the best he can. He still hasn't moved on yet, but what really did it was when he met you. When he first saw you, he said it was like meeting Sam all over again, and for the first time ever, the thought of Sam brought happiness than sadness. He said he felt as if there was some kind of connection between the two of you since you can understand him. He was so happy again. When Optimus assigned him the role of your guardian, at first Bumblebee flat out rejected Prime, claiming that he would fail just like he failed Sam. He also felt like it was too soon to take on another charge, feeling as though by doing so it was like replacing Sam, but Optimus encouraged Bumblebee so he took on his assignment with as much self-confidence he could muster and now look at him. Bumblebee is happier now and has some confidence in his role as guardian. You made Bumblebee happy again. You can never replace Sam, but you can give him that same happiness Sam gave Bumblebee."

Raf felt his stomach tingle not out of fear but out of sense of pride and honor that he was the one who brought Bee out his dark depths of sorrow and restored a light in him. "I can't imagine what Bee must have gone through when he lost his best friend. I mean if Bumblebee was killed, I would be devastated. I might even blame myself." Then an idea hit him. "Ratchet, can you groundbridge me to Bee's location? Maybe I can help him deal with this."

"Well, I don't know. Bumblebee said he wanted to do this alone," Ratchet hesitated.

"You said that I made Bee happy again and restored his self-confidence. This is the first time he's visiting Sam's grave in five years. Bee's probably going to feel that same wave of sorrow again. Maybe I can be there to provide emotional support. Maybe if I talked to Bee, it will help him with his grief," Raf persuaded.

Ratchet sighed. He looked over at the clock the humans used. It was getting to be eleven. Ratchet then turned to his monitor and tracked Bee's location. He was only fifty miles away from the graveyard. "When Bee gets to the graveyard. I'll bridge you there after giving Bee some alone time with Sam. He needs this."

"Alright! Thanks Ratchet!"


	7. Cemetary Drive

**Another update! Diclaimer: I don't own either universes**

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><p>Twilight slowly gave way to dawn, and Bumblebee woke up from his recharge. He should recharge longer, but he really wanted to get back on the road. The parking lot was empty except for a lone little car. Combined with the dim light of the new dawn and the store lights of the just recently opened convenience store, Bumblebee could make out a little bit of the car. It looked familiar, but Bumblebee could not tell what it looked like a hundred percent. Then a woman carrying a cup of coffee walked out of the store. She stopped at the car and fumbled for her keys. Then she saw Bumblebee and walked toward him. Bumblebee wasn't sure of this unusual change in behavior. Maybe she was a car thief.<p>

But as the woman got closer, Bee could tell who she was. It was Judy Witwicky! Bumblebee hasn't seen Judy since Sam's funeral. _What is she doing so far away from Tranquility, especially during her son's fifth anniversary of the day he was killed? Oh yeah, she has a sister who lives here. Perhaps she's visiting her because today is a sad day._

Judy admired the car and when she saw there were no driver and no one around, she gently rubbed the hood of it. Due to Bumblebee having changed Camaro styles since returning to Earth, Judy didn't recognized the car's true identity. "You know?" she asked, "you remind me of my son's car – a 2007 Camaro except it wasn't really a Camaro but an alien robot who could transform into one. His name was Bumblebee. He was my son's best friend and guardian. They were like brothers, but when Sam died five years ago, Bumblebee left Earth with the Autobots. I haven't seen him since. I wasn't too fond of him, mainly because he destroyed a good chunk of our house, but still when I think of Sam, I think of Bumblebee, and I can't help but miss Bee a little bit. It's nice to see a car that looks like him on the anniversary of my son's death." One last gentle rub and Judy left for her own car and drove off. Bumblebee waited until she was a good distance away before driving off.

When he felt that the coast was clear, Bumblebee left for Tranquility. He couldn't help but replay what Judy said to him. It was nice to know that Judy actually missed him. He knew that Sam's parents weren't too fond of him, but at least Judy seemed to care about him. Bee could emphasize with Judy. They both lost someone they loved – the same person actually – and Bumblebee wished he could transform and reveal his true self to her so he can provide some sort of comfort to her, but he can't. This time the Autobots have to maintain an even greater sense of cover. Not even NEST was allowed to know the Autobots and Decepticons have returned.

Many hours later, Bumblebee reached the city limits of Tranquility, California. He navigated his way through traffic to reach the cemetery. Bumblebee wished the 15 mph only roads would allow him to go 75 mph. This place of death filled him with too many memories of Sam's burial – the crying friends and family, the priest's words, Optimus's eulogy, Sam's dead, cold, still face. A face that used to shout with glee when the two sped down an abandoned road. A face that used to kiss him on the cheek out of brotherly love. A face that told him that he loved him. A face that used to listen to his painful stories of war and Tyger Pax. A face that…

Speed is like a drug. It makes everything better when you're high even if temporarily.

Still, Bumblebee moved on, bearing the slow drive as the memories assaulted his processors. He went through winding roads that lead to Sam's grave. It was done on purpose that Sam's grave be close to the road so Bee would have no trouble visiting Sam should he need to keep vehicle mode. Bee was touched by this act, but as he scanned for signs of life and found none, he decided to use his true form. Sam's grave is far from the main road for Bumblebee to be spotted, and it was evening so there were little people here.

Bumblebee transformed and sat down on the ground as he sadly read the inscription:

_Samuel James Witwicky_

_Beloved son, boyfriend, friend, and most of all, a true hero_

_May he rest in peace_

_September 13, 1991 – October 5, 2014_

_A true hero, _Bumblebee thought. _That describes Sam well, but he's more than just a beloved friend to me. He's my brother whom I love so much but failed to protect. _Bumblebee remembered Shockwave's cold red optic. He never knew red could be so cold before until he met Shockwave. Megatron had red optics, but Megatron's were burning not cold. Then Bumblebee remembered the cold emptiness he felt in his spark when he cradled Sam's dead body. He thought nothing was colder than Shockwave's optic and cryoblast, but the feeling of losing the one most precious to Bee proved even colder than that – so cold that it burned.

Bumblebee knew that it was time to say something. This was the exact reason why he wanted his link between his radio and his voice capacitor repaired now so he could speak to Sam in a "language" that Sam understood.

"_Hello there the angel from my nightmare…Where are you and I'm so sorry…I couldn't save you_," Bumblebee played. "_So now you lay yourself down in this grave with shattered eyes…And this confession is killing me again/This beautiful tragedy is crashing into me…Well, I've been holding on tonight/What's the worst that I could say?...Emotional swords slash my soul /And now the pain takes control/ I think about you/I think about me /Think about the way that it used to be."_ Bumblebee pictured Sam's lively face, trying to find some sort of happiness in his spark as the sorrow and guilt threatens to snuff it. "_Jesus Christ, that's a pretty face/The kind you find on someone I could save..." _Then Sam's bloodied and battered dead face crept into Bumblebee's mind. "_Bloody faced/Kissing death…I blame myself/For your death/It's tearing me apart…I'm practically…Getting away with murder…That's what it feels like..."_

Then Bumblebee allowed countless memories of him and Sam to flow into his processor without a trace of negative emotions but only ones of happiness. He decided to share them with Sam. "_These memories are playing like a film without sound…_ _All the times we/Had together/And as our lives change/From whatever/We will still be/Friends Forever…Do you remember when we first met, I sure do…We were both young when I first saw you/I close my eyes/And the flashback starts…Do you remember?…Your best friend always sticking up for you even when I know you're wrong…five hour phone conversation…and me_…" Bumblebee felt as if he couldn't go on any more. Any second the sadness will consume him like a black hole sucking in light, and he'll collapse in inescapable and unbearable grief, but he had to go on. For Sam's sake. "_You used to call me your angel…I miss you/I miss your smile…My heart won't let you go…I'm thinking back on the past/It's true time is flying by too fast/I know you're in a better place, yeah/But I wish that I could see your face, oh/I know where you need to be/Even though it's not here with me…I love you…" _

Just then, a distinctive sound of a Groundbridge portal being opened sounded behind Bumblebee. He quickly turned around, transformed his arms into plasma cannons, fired them up, and got into a defensive position. He was ready for any Decepticon onslaught that came from that poratal. Instead, what came out of that GroundBridge to Bee's immense surprise was Raf.

* * *

><p><strong>Wow! I used a lot of songs. <strong>

"_Hello there the angel from my nightmare…Where are you and I'm so sorry…" _– "I Miss You" by: Blink-182

"_I couldn't save you" _– "I Couldn't Save You" by: Kate Voegele

"_So now you lay yourself down in this grave with shattered eyes…And this confession is killing me again/This beautiful tragedy is crashing into me…" _- "Beautiful Tragedy" by: In This Moment

"_Well, I've been holding on tonight/What's the worst that I could say?" _– "Helena" by: My Chemical Romance

"_Emotional swords slash my soul /And now the pain takes control/ I think about you/I think about me /Think about the way that it used to be_." – "Time and Time Again" by: Papa Roach

"_Jesus Christ, that's a pretty face/The kind you find on someone I could save…" _– "Jesus Christ" by: Brand New

"_Bloody faced/Kissing death…I blame myself/For your death/It's tearing me apart." _– "Walking Thru Barbed Wire" by: Papa Roach

"_I'm practically" _– "Practically Perfect" from _Mary Poppins_

"_Getting away with murder" _– "Getting Away With Murder" by: Papa Roach

"_That's what it feels like" _– "That's What It Feels Like" by: Jenna

"_These memories are playing like a film without sound…_ _All the times we/Had together/And as our lives change/From whatever/We will still be/Friends Forever" _– "Graduation (Friends Forever) by: Vitamin C

"_Do you remember when we first met, I sure do" _– "Do You Remember" by: Jack Johnson

"_We were both young when I first saw you/I close my eyes/And the flashback starts" _Love Story by: Taylor Swift

"_Do you remember?" _– "Do You Remember" by: Jack Johnson

"_Your best friend always sticking up for you even when I know you're wrong…five hour phone conversation…and me" _– "Drops of Jupiter" by: Train

"_You used to call me your angel…I miss you/I miss your smile…My heart won't let you go…I'm thinking back on the past/It's true time is flying by too fast/I know you're in a better place, yeah/But I wish that I could see your face, oh/I know where you need to be/Even though it's not here with me" _– "I Miss You" by: Mikey Cyrus

"_I love you" _– "I Love You" by: Chris Brown


	8. Living On

**Disclaimer: I don't own any universe, toy, or character of Transformers**

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><p><em><strong>"Raf?" <strong>_Bumblebee beeped in surprise. He didn't expect anyone to know where he was except for Arcee, Ratchet, and Optimus. How did Raf know that Bumblebee was visiting a graveyard and not on a scouting mission. Does Raf know about Sam?

Raf stepped out of the vortex, and the GroundBridge closed. "Hey, Bee," Raf said sheepishly.

_"Why are you here if you're just gonna stand around?" _sang a band from bumblebee's radio. Man, did he love using his radio to communicate again. It was the next best thing to his voice box.

"I'm sorry, Bee, but I was worried about you, and I snuck around your room and found a picture of you and man in his mid twenties. I asked Ratchet who he was, and he told me it was Sam, your previous charge, and how you went to visit his grave. I thought I could come and help you through this so Ratchet GroundBridged me here," Raf blurted out like a child confessing he did something wrong and fearfully waiting for punishment.

_"It's alright_." Bumblebee played. Raf, reassured by the soft music of the lyrics, walked over to Bumblebee. Bumblebee held out his hand, and Raf climbed in. Bumblebee brought him close to his chassis like he had done to Sam many times years ago. How he missed Sam, but he loved Raf just as much although in slightly different ways.

Raf stared at the headstone that marked Sam's final resting place. "You must really miss him, huh?"

_**"With all my spark. I never stopped thinking about him. It's my fault that he died. If was more alert, I could have avoided Shockwave's blast."**_

"It's not your fault. I bet not even Sam blames you."

_**"Knowing Sam, he doesn't, but I was his guardian, and I should have done a better job. No, scratch that. I should be a better guardian overall. I lost Sam, and I almost lost you!"**_

Raf was shocked by the sudden raise in Bumblebee's "voice." He never heard his guardian so angry before. "What do you mean you 'almost lost' me?"

_**"After becoming your guardian, I swore to never lose you like how I lost Sam. Then Megatron infected you with Dark Energon, and I thought I really was gonna lose you. I failed as a guardian and as a friend again. I was so angry with myself! But thanks to Ratchet and Nurse Darby, you recovered, and I was thrilled that you didn't share Sam's fate, but I can't help remember seeing your face so pale and still. Just like Sam's face, but without the blood."**_

Raf rubbed Bumblebee's finger in a small gesture of comfort. "Well, I'm here and breathing."

_"And I wouldn't change a thing."_

Silence passed, save for a pair of birds singing in the trees curled up into the protective embrace of Bumblebee while Bumblebee reassured himself that Raf was a alive, safe and sound, and that he wasn't going to let anything happen to him. Where he failed with Sam, he will succeed with Raf. And like with Sam, duty-bound guardianship transformed into guardianship out of love and friendship.

"Bee?" Raf perked up.

_**"Yes?"**_

"Did you know I used to have a dog?"

_"Who, who, who, who, who?" _sung the Baha Men who sounded like genre savvy dogs barking at this particular lyric. Raf laughed.

"Yeah, it was a Jack Russell Terrier. I got him for my birthday when I was six, and I had him until I was ten. I named him Rusty, and during those four years, that dog was my only friend. I never had any friends at school, and I was ignored at home, but Rusty acted like I was the best thing in the world. Whenever I was sad, he was there to lick my tears away. When I was happy, we spent hours playing together. I told him all my secrets, loved him, cared for him."

_"What happened?"_

"He got hit by a car," Raf said gravely. "I let him outside before I went to school. I forgot to let him in when I left. I guess he dug a hole under the fence because when I came home, Mom said that Rusty was hit by a car and killed." Tear began to form. "I cried my eyes out, but mostly, I blamed myself. He was my best friend, and I killed him." A tear trickled down his right cheek. "I mourned and blamed myself for a month, but then my mom told me something that made me feel a little less sad and guilty."

_**"What?"**_

"She said that Rusty is in Heaven, which is a paradisaic afterlife for animals and good humans, where nothing can hurt him, and he can have all the fun he wants. And when it's my time, I'll join him there, but for now, I need to live for Rusty. Living for deceased loved ones honors them and spending the rest of your life mourning for them and blaming yourself for their deaths. Not only that, but it shows you care."

_**"So you're saying I should live for Sam rather than continuously blame myself?"**_

"Yeah, I know you didn't kill Sam, and there's no way you could have prevented his death. You had little backup because Shockwave killed most of the Autobots, and Ratchet was doing everything in his power to protect you and Sam from Shockwave, but Shockwave was too strong. None of it was your fault like how it wasn't my fault that Rusty died. Rusty liked to dig a lot, and he didn't see the car coming. I shouldn't have forgotten to let him in, but when it boils down to it, it was the driver's fault not mine."

_**"How did you know about Shockwave killing the Autobots stationed on Earth and overpowering Ratchet?"**_

"Ratchet told me."

"_**Okay. **__So thanks for everything…I'm gonna…Live for…__**Sam**_…_Die For_…_**you**_…_Fight for_…_**both of you**_**,"** Bumblebee stated like a warrior's vow.

"And I know you'll do a great job at all three of them!" Raf said happily.

Bumblebee was about to reply when Ratchet spoke to him on his commlink. "Bumblebee."

Bumblebee put his hand to his head, activating his own commlink. "_What is it?"_

"You and Raf come back to base immediately. We…have a surprise for you."

_**"Okay," **_Bumblebee beeped, confused.

"Who was that?" Raf asked.

_**"Ratchet. He wants us to come back to base immediately. He says he has a surprise for me."**_

"What kinda surprise?"

_**"I don't know, but he seemed a little hesitant." **_A green swirling vortex appeared. _**"Come on, let's go." **_Bumblebee gently held Raf as he got up and stepped through the GroundBridge.

* * *

><p><strong>Less songs used compared to last chapter, but here they are regardless<strong>

"_Why are you here if you're just gonna stand around?" _– Why Are You Here by: The Overprivileged

"_It's alright." _– It's Alright by: 311

"_And I wouldn't change a thing." _– Wouldn't Change a Thing by: Demi Lovato

"_Who, who, who, who, who?" _– Who Let The Dogs Out? by: Baha Men

"_What happened?"_ – What Happened by: Sublime

"…_So thanks for everything…" _– Thanks for Everything by: Dismantled

"…_I'm gonna…" _– I'm Gonna Live Till I Die by: Frank Sinatra

"…_Live for…Die for…Fight for…" _– The Quest by: Brian Christopher

"_What is it?" _– What Is It by Baby Bash


	9. Scouting Mission

**Disclaimer: I don't own Transformers not even a toy.**

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><p><strong>Meanwhile, Back at Base…<strong>

Bulkhead and Arcee drove to base with their human charges. Miko got out, adrenaline still pumping after some quality dune bashing. "Wahoo! That was fun, Bulk!"

Bulkhead transformed into his robot mode. "I make a pretty good all terrain vehicle."

"You bet!"

Jack had just gotten off Arcee who was already in robot mode. "Hey, where's Raf?" he said. "Didn't you bring him to base, Bulkhead?"

"Yeah." To Ratchet, Bulkhead asked, "Hey, Doc, where's Raf?"

"He's, uh, with his family. He had to leave early," Ratchet lied.

"Ok," Bulkhead said, completely oblivious to the lie.

Just then the alarm sounded. "Proximity alarm," Arcee stated. She and Bulkhead walked over to the monitors where Ratchet was trying to figure out who was the intruder.

Ratchet got a fix on where the alarm sounded, but it was too far to get any feed. "Arcee, Bulkhead, ten miles north is where the intruder is. Find out who it is and let me know." He typed in the coordinates and opened the GroundBridge.

"Alright," Arcee said, and she entered the GroundBridge.

Bulkhead was about to go in when Miko whined, "Awwwww. No monster truck marathon?"

"Stay here, Miko," Bulkhead said firmly. "Hopefully this won't take too long." He disappeared through the GroundBridge.

Arcee and Bulkhead were transported into the desert landscape with a few large boulders scattered about. Arcee and Bulkhead took cover behind a pile of large boulders and scanned the landscape. There was nothing unusual. "Arcee to Base. Do you read me?" Arcee commlinked.

"Yeah, have you found anything yet?" Ratchet commlinked back.

"Not yet."

"Search around and let me know."

"Got it." Arcee ended her commlink with Ratchet. To Bulkhead, she said, "Come on. Ratchet says we gotta find the intruder and report back to him." Arcee transformed into a motorcycle.

"Probably just some random hiker," Bulkhead muttered. Then he transformed into an all-terrain truck.

Arcee took the lead as they scouted the desert, optics straining to see past the kicked up dust and sand, for the intruder. The sun beat down on their metal armor, soaking up the heat. Their cooling systems sped up on full gear to keep the two Autobots from overheating. Arcee, whose alternate mode was built for paved roads, was doing her best to deal with the dirt and rocks and occasionally swerved away from an unsuspecting cactus. Bulkhead was built for this terrain any terrain actually so driving in the desert was fun and he occasionally drove over some dunes to relieve his boredom from this fruitless mission much to the annoyance of Arcee.

"Bulkhead, we're on a mission not here to bash dunes," Arcee reprimanded.

"Sorry, 'Cee, just wanted to have a little fun in the desert as long as our 'intruder' isn't around. I'm starting to wonder if Ratchet's scanners have a virus or something."

"We've been searching for thirty minutes. Something's bound to come up," Arcee counter argued.

"Yeah, well, whatever." After five minutes of silence, Bulkhead asked, "Hey, Arcee, where do you think Raf really went?"

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know. When I asked Doc Bot where Raf was, he seemed nervous like he was hiding something."

Arcee had a suspicion, but she wasn't going to voice it for Bumblebee's sake. "Don't know, but wherever he is he's probably safe. Otherwise, we would be on a search and rescue mission right now."

"Yeah, I guess so, but I'm still interested in why he's –" Bulkhead didn't even get a chance to finish his sentence when they were attack by five Vehicons overhead. Arcee and Bulkhead transformed and started shooting at them, but the Vehicons had the advantage in the sky, and many times did Arcee and Bulkhead had to dodge.

"You wanna piece of me?" Bulkhead shouted. "Well, here!" He hurled a boulder at one Vehicon, taking out its engine. Bulkhead blasted the other engine, sending the Vehicon hurdling down to Earth. "One down. Four to go."

Arcee dodged a blast. "Bulkhead, cover me! I'm gonna commlink Ratctet!"

"Got it!" Bulkhead shouted back before firing upon the flying four Vehicons.

"Arcee to Base: we're under attack by five Vehicons, well, now four," Arcee commlinked, firing at one Vehicon causing some damage to its engine but not enough to send it hurdling from the sky. Bulkhead aimed his blaster for its other engine, but the Vehicon managed to maneuver its engine out of the way. However, it was injured so its maneuver allowed its wing to be hit, finishing off the Vehicon. "Make that three."

"Do you need backup?" Ratchet commlinked.

"No, but they're pretty adamant on keeping their focus on us."

"Possibly a distraction. Find out why they're here. Commlink me if you need backup and/or what they're here for."

"Got it. Over and out!"

In the distance, Arcee spotted two Vehicons in robot mode, moving rocks and appearing to be looking for something. "Bulkhead, are you okay here?"

"Yeah, why?"

"I'm gonna see what those two Vehicons are up to." Arcee transformed into a motorcycle and raced off to get a closer look while Bulkhead kept the three airborne Vehicons off her tail. She found a large boulder near the two Vehicons and transformed into her robot form. She transformed her right servo into a blaster just in case. "Either something's buried under the rocks or something's hiding under them," Arcee said to herself, referring to the Vehicons picking up boulders, looking under them, and casually tossing them outside.

One Vehicon threw a boulder a good thirty feet away. "Before careful," said the other Vehicon. "We don't want to accidently damage the weapon by throwing boulders without care."

_Weapon? What weapon? _Arcee thought. Then she heard the sound of branches being moved behind her. Arcee whipped her head around to see some kind of figure hiding among the bramble between a large boulder and a Joshua tree. Arcee peered to get a better look. It appeared to be a human male, possibly a human female with her dark hair cut short, who's in their late teens to early twenties. Arcee couldn't tell who the person was, but the human felt familiar, and she didn't feel afraid about possibly letting her cover slip. She felt like she met this person before but where?

The human made some movement, and Arcee watched to see if the person would emerge and reveal himself or herself but all that resulted in a cactus thorn poking the human because he yelled, "Ouch!" _That_ _voice, _Arcee thought nostalgically, _is definitely male but sounds so familiar as almost as if it were Sam's voice. Could it be? _But Arcee's thoughts were interrupted when the two scouting Vehicons ceased their searching and looked towards Arcee's way. "Shit!" the human male cursed. The two Vehicons raced after him, and Arcee was prepared to defend the human. The human managed to escape his hiding place, and to Arcee's complete shock…

There was no time. She commlinked Ratchet, "Ratchet, the Vehicons are after a human, and I know who he is."

"Who?" Ratchet commlinked.

"It's Sam."

* * *

><p><strong>Cliffhanger!<strong>


	10. Rescue

**Possibly my lnogest chapter, but considering I'll be gone for 2 weeks soon, I think it's fair enough that the chapter is this long. Disclaimer: I don't own Transformers but I do own the 3 live action movies**

* * *

><p>"<em>What do you mean it's Sam? Sam's been dead for five years!" <em>Ratchet yelled through the commlink.

Arcee winced, swearing her audio receptors are now damaged. "I'm telling you it's Sam. He sounds exactly like him, and when he appeared from the tree and brush, it was as if Sam had never died…or aged. He still looks like a twenty-three-old."

"Are you absolutely sure it's Sam?"

"Yes, everything about him matches Sam's physical description albeit some scars on his face that weren't there when we last saw him, and… _Primus!"_

"What? What is it, Arcee?"

"He – he…" Arcee was at a loss for words, "transformed his right arm into a Cybertronian arm which he transformed into some kind of blaster." Arce watched with amazement as Sam took out the two Vehicons with some unknown blasts.

"Rescue him from the Vehicons and bring him back to base. If he really is Sam, then it's imperative we bring him home."

"Roger that. Arcee out."

**Autobot Outbase Omega One**

Ratchet ended his commlink with Arcee. He knew he should alert Optimus now about Arcee's discovery, but what about Bumblebee? Bumblebeeing, being Sam's best friend and guardian, has a right to know if Sam is really alive, but is it really Sam? Could Sam have been alive this whole time? What if Ratchet commlinked Bumblebee telling him that his charge was alive this whole time only to discover that the man in question wasn't really Sam at all, just some human with similar traits? Bumblebee would be spark broken. There's no point raising the scout's hopes unless if the human really is Sam. Ratchet decided that he will only commlink Bumblebee if the human really is Sam.

"Ratchet to Optimus: come in," Ratchet commlinked.

"I'm here, what's your status?" Optimus commlinked back.

"Arcee and Bulkhead were sent on a scouting mission to investigate an impossible intruder. Arcee and Bulkhead ran into some Vehicons, and Arcee believes she has found Sam Witwicky," Ratchet commlinked back.

Optimus didn't respond for a while until he finally commlinked, "Is Arcee sure that the human is Sam?"

"Yes, she also reports that somehow Sam transformed his rightarm into a Cybertronian arm and then transformed it into a blaster of unknown type and began firing using some unknown energy blasts. I ordered Arcee to rescue the human and bridge him back."

"Hmmm. Has Bumblebee been notified yet?"

"No, sir. I thought it would be best to only notify Bumblebee if the human is truly Sam."

"That is wise. Ratchet, bridge me back to base."

"Yes, sir." Ratchet ended the commlink and activated typed in Optimus's coordinates and activated the Groundbridge.

"Hey, Ratchet, who's Sam?" Jack asked.

Optimus entered through the Groundbridge portal back to base. "An old friend," he answered.

**The Mojave Desert**

Arcee turned around to look for Sam, but he wasn't there. She transformed into a motorcycle to look for the presumed-to-be-dead human while simultaneously commlinking Bulkhead. "Bulkhead, they're looking for an adult human male named Sam Witwicky who is somehow fitted with Cybertronian technology. Our new mission is to rescue the human and bring him back to base. He had dark brown hair and eyes and tan skin."

"Copy that, Arcee," Bulkhead commlinked back.

Arcee dodged Vehicon blasts and scouted the terrain to find Sam. She heard the sound of jet fire above her. _Sounds like they brought backup, _Arcee thought. Unfortunately, blasts rained down from the sky, each one aimed for her. With her speed, Arcee dodged each one effectively. "Bulkhead," she commlinked, "do you see Sam?"

"No," he commlinked back. "I'm a bit busy pounding out some sparkless Vehicon drones. It looks like they called in for backup."

"Yeah, I noticed. Try to focus your energy on finding Sam. It's imperative that we find him."

"Imperative. How so?"

"It's long story, but I heard one of the Vehicons refer to him as a weapon."

"Got it!"

Ending her commlinked, Arcee zoomed around clusters of cacti and thorny bushes until she saw Sam cornered by three Vehicons. She transformed and cocked her blasters and shot the Vehicons. "Sam!"

"Chromia?" Sam asked, sounding surprised to see an Autobot in his escape attempt.

"No Arcee," Arcee corrected amongst blasts.

"But how?"

"No time to explain. We're here to rescue here. Run and find Bulkhead. He's large and green. Go!"

Sam nodded and did what he was told, but a Vehicon saw the running human and shot at Sam, aiming just below his back as so not to kill the human but to knock him out. Sam fell in mid run and lost consciousness. Arcee saw this and blasted the Vehicon who was about to grab Sam into oblivion. She ran to the human, grabbed him, and ran to find Bulkhead while blasting some Vehicons coming after her. She didn't know if she could keep up this act, but luckily, she found Bulkhead.

"Bulkhead!" she yelled, catching his attention.

"I got Sam! Let's get out of here!"

Bulkhead nodded and commlinked Ratchet. "Ratchet, we need a Groundbridge ASAP!"

Just then a green swirling vortex appeared between the two Autbots. Bulkhead transformed and drove through the Groundbridge. Arcee, who was farther away, ran as fast as she could while making sure her running did not cause further injury to Sam. A Vehicon aimed his blaster for Arcee's head, but Arcee managed to get through the Groundbridge, and the portal disappeared before the blast offlined Arcee.

Now that Arcee wasn't running for her life, she maneuvered Sam in a more comfortable position as if she was cradling the human. Optimus and Ratchet ran towards her and stopped in their tracks.

"By the AllSpark, he is Sam!" Ratchet exclaimed.

"So our human friend was alive this whole time," Optimus stated.

"A Vehicon shot him in the back. He needs medical attention," Arcee said.

"Quickly, to the med bay," Ratcghet urgently said.

Jack and Miko leaned against the railer to get a closer look at Sam. Arcee settled Sam on a human sized cot while Ratchet ran a scan. After Raf's encounter with Dark Energon, June taught Ratchet about the human body and human medicine. He excelled quickly enough to administer human First Aid and perform relatively easy surgeries such as fixing a broken bone or removing a bullet, but sometimes, he had to rely on Nurse Darby. Luckily, Sam's injuries were easy for Ratchet to repair, but they yielded some shocking results. "By the AllSpark, he's techno-organic! Not only that, but I'm getting AllSpark and Dark Energon readings from him!"

"That's impossible!" Arcee said. "When Sam used the original Matrix of Leadership to resurrect Optimus, the energy from the AllSpark transferred from him to the Matrix. Not only that but Dark Energon is devastating in humans."

"Considering he has been somehow transformed into a techno-organic, I'd say the Dark Energon would have less of a lethal effect on him, but the idea of Unicron's blood and Primus's power coexisting in one body is puzzling in itself," Ratchet explained. "I would like to learn more."

"That can be done later. Right now, the important thing is to heal Sam. Perhaps when he awakes, he could tell us more," Optimus said.

"Right. His injuries are serious but not severe. I won't be requiring assistance from Nurse Darby, but I need to you to clear so I can work," Ratchet said.

Arcee, Bulkhead, and Optimus did what Ratchet told them to. The two teenagers up on the catwalk and Bulkhead decided to take advantage of the time for questions. "So who exactly is Sam?" Jack asked.

"And what do you mean by 'original Matrix of Leadership'?" Miko asked.

"How is he our friend?" Bulkhead asked. "Does have anything to do with Bumblebee's scouting mission and Raf's trip back home?"

Optimus sighed. It was time to explain the full story. "Sam was or is our closest human ally, and Bumblebee's charge, and for everyone but Bulkhead and Cliffjumper, this is not the first time we visited Earth."

"So when did you guys come here?" Miko asked.

"In 2003, I sent Bumblebee to Earth to look for the AllSpark, a cube containing mysterious life giving powers. It is what keeps our species alive and where sparks of offline Cybertronian go to. In 2007, Bumblebee's search led to Sam, who was sixteen at the time. Sam was in posession of his great-grandfather's glasses that were embedded with the AllSpark's coordinates."

"Why would an old man have alien data on his glasses?" Jack asked.

"Because the old man Archibald Witwicky discovered Megatron, who crash landed and went into stasis lock in the Arctic, and accidently activated his navigation systems in which Megatron embedded the AllSpark's coordinates onto Archibald's glasses though not done on purpose. It was Bumblebee's first encounter with Sam that made Bumblebee is guardian, and since that day, the two were inseparable. They were like brothers. However, unlike you three when Sam met Bumblebee, he didn't realize his car's true identity until later. Not long after Sam purchased Bumblebee in car mode, I responded to Bumblebee's transmission and brought Jazz, Ratchet, and Ironhide to Earth to gain possession of the AllSpark before the Decepticons do, and luckily, Sam and Bumblebee got to the AllSpark before the Decepticons who wanted to use its power to make soldiers from Earth's technology. Sam risked his life to protect the AllSpark from Megatron, and when I ordered him to merge the AllSpark with my spark, sacrificing myself and the AllSpark to protect the Earth, Sam merged the AllSpark with Megatron's spark, killing Megatron and destroying the AllSpark's vessel. That battle took place in Mission City, California, and sadly, Jazz was terminated by Megatron. After the Battle of Mission City, the Autobots formed an alliance with your human military under NEST which was a classified strike team with its head base in Diego Garcia where we hunt for Decepticons. This was around this time when Arcee and many other Autobots along with some new Decepticons landed on Earth."

"Whoa! Sam's got more bearings than Agent Fowler," exclaimed Bulkhead, interrupting Optimus's story.

Jack remembered a time not long ago where he had a chance to kill Megatron. He could have done it and would very much have liked to, but he knew that killing a defenseless person or Transformer no matter how evil is wrong. Optimus taught him that, but then Jack wondered if the circumstances were different, and Megatron wasn't helpless, and Jack still had the chance. Would he be able to do it? Sam did it. Could Jack do it? _Yes, _he thought, _I could._

"So how exactly is Megatron still alive?" Miko asked.

"He was resurrected by an AllSpark shard two years later. Another shard gave Sam the energy of the AllSpark. Megatron, Starscream, and Grindor came after Sam to because the location to the Star Harvester, a device that creates energon by destroying suns. Megatron was a student of Megatronus nicknamed the Fallen. They wanted to use the Sun Harvester to create energon to amass their army and so the Fallen may take revenge on the other Primes who prevented him from using the Sun Harvester thousands and thousands of years ago. I was able to protect Sam but died in the process. It was through Sam who by seven of the thirteen original Primes earned the Matrix and Leadership and used it to resurrect me."

"Wait," Jack interrupted. "I thought Primus gave you the Matrix of Leadership back on Cybertron."

"There are two, but there is supposed to be one. The Matrix Sam used is the original Matrix. It was the key to activating the Sun Harvesters, but when the Primes sacrificed themselves to hide the Matrix from the Fallen, it became lost to Cybertron for eons. When I ventured down to Cybertron's core, Primus made a new Matrix of Leadership and bestowed it to me. Regardless, both Matrices are earned." Optimus explained. Then he continued on with his story. "I was able to offline the Fallen before your sun was destroyed. Four years later, Sam once proved his worth to the Autobot cause. As you may remember, Sentinel created a weapon which we now know as a Space Bridge that was capable of transporting large masses such as planets. It was supposed end the war in the Autobots' favor, but his ship was destroyed and crash landed on Earth's moon."

"I thought he went offlined when you, Jazz, and Prowl went to rescue him," Bulkhead interjected.

"Almost, but we and a few other Autobots made it seem as he did. We knew of Sentinel's weapon so when Sentinel was severly injured. Ratchet secretly repaired him while Jazz, Prowl, and I tampered with evidence, pointing to an offline Sentinel. Unfortunately, the Decepticons discovered the truth somehow and pursued Sentinel and his ship," Optimus explained before continuing with his story.

"Anyway, Ratchet and I were able to bring Sentinel and four pillars of the Space Bridge back, and I used the original Matrix of Leadership to revive Sentinel Prime. Sam went out of his way to find information regarding Sentinel's crash landing and learned that he was part of a Decepticon plot for me to activate Sentinel and for Sentinel to activate the main pillar. What neither of us knew was that Sentinel wasn't an unknown participant but a traitor to the Autobots. Sentinel had made a deal with Megatron to destroy Earth by transporting Cybertron and using humans as slave labor to rebuild Cybertron. Sentinel lied about his and the Decepticons' true motives and forced the human governments to exile us to who knows where in the spaceship _Xantium_. Starsceam seemingly destroyed the ship along with us inside, but we were never really intended to leave Earth and instead hid inside a modified rocket booster so we may show the humans that the Decepticons will never leave Earth alone.

"We learned that Sam along with former NEST soldier Robert Epps led a small band of former NEST soldiers into the heat of battle in Chicago where Sentinel stationed the main pillar to recue Sam's girlfriend Carly Spencer. We arrived just in time to save them from a Decepticon attack and used the element of surprise to destroy the main Space Bridge pillar. Sam was able to rescue his girlfriend with Bumblebee's help and kill Laserbeak in the process, destroy Starscream, and help Bumblebee destroy the main pillar. Meanwhile, with the help of Megatron, who decided to reclaim power, I was able to destroy Sentinel Prime, and then I terminated Megatron."

"So how are Megatron, Laserbeak, and Megatron alive again?" Jack asked.

"That, Jack, remains a mystery along with Soundwave and Shockwave's resurrections. They, too, died in the Battle of Chicago. However, unlike Shockwave, Soundwave, Laserbeak, Starscream, and Megatron received entirely different frames. I have a feeling that Shockwave has something to do with his comrades' new frames and resurrections," Optimus mused.

"What do you mean?" Miko asked.

"Shockwave is a coldly logical scientist who experimented on Transformers to make them ideal for warfare. Arcee and her sisters Chromia and Elita One were one of Shockwave's experiments. Five years ago on this very day, Shockwave somehow had come alive and attacked Edwards Air Force Base. I was the one who offlined him, and his injuries were too severe for life. How he came online, fully repaired remains a mystery. Anyway, he killed many of the Autobots and humans stationed there, but his main target was Sam. Bumblebee took Sam and fled with Ratchet as backup. Shockwave severely damaged Ratchet and attacked Bumblebee, killing Sam and damaging Bumblebee's radio link and partially repaired voice capacitor in the process. Not long after Megatron, Starscream, Soundwave, and Laserbeak with entirely new frames except for Megatron whose head was built differently. I, Ratchet, Arcee, Chromia, and the few still living Autobots left chased the five Decepticons into space. When I got word of Megatron's return on Earth, I returned with Ratchet, Bumblebee, and Bulkhead in 2015. Cliffjumper and Arcee soon followed suit, but the government wanted us to work more secretly than before without the human military's assistance probably to avoid human casualties. They gave us this old missile silo, and we became known as Team Prime, and you three know the rest of the story," Optimus finished his tale.

"So if Sam died on this exact day five years ago, then Bumblebee is not on a five day scouting trip but visiting Sam's grave," Jack deduced.

"And Raf's with him," Bulkhead said.

"Yes," Optimus said. "Sam's buried in his hometown of Tranquility, California. From what Ratchet commlinked me when I got back to base, Raf is with Bumblebee, offering comfort."

"But why would Bumblebee lie to us?" Bulkhead asked. "I mean we're teammates. We're practically family!"

"Because it was too painful for Bumblebee to talk about it even to Raf. Sam was the very person Bumblebee cared most about in his life, and Sam, in turn, wished he had Cybertronian abilities so he could protect Bumblebee after witnessing him almost die twice. They loved each other like brothers and would do anything for each other. They had a special bond that went beyond words. When Sam died, Bumblebee blamed himself and grew depressed. He doubted himself and his abilities as a warrior, friend, and guardian. It was only when Raf arrived that Bumblebee became his old cheerful self again. Raf saved Bumblebee from his depression, and the two formed a friendship very similar to Bumblebee's friendship with Sam. Raf even calls Bumblebee 'Bee" like Sam did. But still, Sam was too painful of a subject for Bumblebee to talk about, and he still holds guilt and sorrow in his spark," Optimus explained.

"Man, I can't imagine losing Miko like that," Bulkhead said.

"Or Jack," Arcee said.

That was when Ratchet decided to interrupt.

"Ratchet, how is Sam?" Optimus asked with concern.

"He is fine and should wake up in an hour. He will make a full recovery. I also did a diagnosis on the boy just in case he was a doppelganger, and my scanners indeed confirmer that the boy on my cot truly is Sam Witwicky," Ratchet said, much to the relieve of Optimus and Arcee.

"Then it is time to bring Bumblebee and Raf back to base. As Sam's guardian, Bumblebee has a right to know," Optimus ordered.

"Yes, sir," Ratchet said and then activated his commlink. "Bumblebee."

"_What is it?"_ Bumblebee responded.

"You and Raf come back to base immediately," Ratchet said. "We…have a surprise for you." Ratchet knew Bumblebee wouldn't have believed him if he told him that Sam was alive over commlink, especially on the anniversary of Sam's death. It was better if Bumblebee saw Sam for himself.

_**"Okay," **_Bumblebee beeped through his commlink, confused.

Ratchet walked over to the monitors and activated the GroundBridge. Then he heard moaning. He turned around to see a stirring Sam. The other Autobots and human children took notice of this.

"By the AllSpark, that's impossible!" exclaimed a shocked Ratchet.

"I thought he wasn't supposed to wake up until an hour later," Miko said accusingly.

There was no time to debate as Bumblebee with Raf in his hand walked through the GroundBridge portal and into base. His optics wandered around the inside of base to see what was wrong. Then his optics fell onto a now fully awaked Sam who in turn stared back at him.

"Bee," Sam said a bit tiredly but mostly happily.

"Sam."

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><p><strong>In <em>Transformers: Dark of the Moon<em> everyone knows about the Transformers' existence. In _Transformers: Prime, _most of Earth is clueless. Since in this fanfic _Transformers: Prime _takes place after _Transformers: Dark of the Moon, _there's a huge continuity error regarding civilians' knowledge of the Transformers. Can anyone give me ideas on how to explain civilans from knowing about the Transformers to not knowing about them, I am open to suggestions. If not, then I'll just basically work around it.**

**Song used**

"_What is it?" _– What Is It by Baby Bash


	11. Reunion

**Credit goes to FrontlinersShadow for giving me the idea to erase peoples' minds of knowledge of the Transformers' existence. Disclaimer: I own nothing**

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><p>Bumblebee gently but haphazardly placed Raf on the catwalk. Sam had no time to register his surroundings as Bumblebee instantly grabbed Sam, tearing away the IV line attached to Sam's skin, and engulfed him in a hug by cupping Sam with his right servo and pressing the boy against his spark chamber with his left servo. Sam snuggled against Bumblebee's chassis as if he was trying to find entrance to Bumblebee's spark and bask in its warmth. Sam didn't care if the metal chassis was uncomfortable and far from snuggling into a fluffy dog's fur. This was Bumblebee – his best friend, his brother whom he hadn't seen for five years. Tears started to leak from Sam's eyes.<p>

"God, Bumblebee, I missed you so much," Sam whispered but loud enough for Bumblebee to hear.

"_But I miss you more than I did yesterday," _Bumblebee replied. Then he added, _"I love you."_

"I love you, too. I thought I'd never see you or any of the Autobots again since you guys thought I was dead. Shockwave liked to rub that in my face." Sam choked on a sob. Just even seeing the yellow color on Bumblebee's armor was like witnessing Jesus Christ rising from the dead – beautiful, loving, and exhilarating with enough relief and happiness to drive away the grief.

Bumblebee felt red, hot anger burn in his spark. Shockwave _took Sam away from him_ and made sure Bumblebee never came back for him. Shockwave made Sam feel despair. Bumblebee wanted to rip Shockwave apart, but Bumblebee pushed back his anger temporarily and comforted the most precious being that was cradled in his servos. _"I'm here/nothing can harm you…I'm here, with you, beside you, to guard you..."_

Sam chuckled. "Using _The Phantom of the Opera _music is a bit cheesy, you know?"

_At least he appears not to be mentally scarred, _Bumblebee thought with relief. _"…yeah, I know…But…Hey, whataya want from me…?"_

Sam laughed, and the two brothers just hugged each other for what was hours in their own little world, drinking in their presences and basking in the warmth of Sam's heart and Bumblebee's spark. However, the love fest had to come to an end when Ratchet persuaded Bumblebee to put down Sam so Ratchet can scan him for any injuries. It took Ratchet twisting Bumblebee's arm behind his back and a direct order from Optimus Prime, but eventually Bumblebee reluctantly complied. However, he didn't let Sam out of his sight as Ratchet scanned Sam and gave him a clean bill of health.

"Who are you?" Sam asked as he watched the red and white Autobot medic scan him.

"You don't remember me, Sam? I'm Ratchet."

Sam's mouth went agape. "Ratchet? You're-You're alive? I thought Shockwave killed you!" As a last minute thought, Sam added, "And you look completely different."

Ratchet chuckled. "It takes more than just a single Decepticon to take me down. Actually, I never died. I was so injured that I needed a whole new frame. Actually, this frame looks more similarly to my Cybertronian frame than my original Earth frame."

"Do you still transform into a Hummer H2 rescue vehicle?" Sam asked.

"No, I transform into an ambulance now."

"Well, at least you're alive." Sam smiled, and Ratchet continued examining his patient.

When Ratchet was finished, he remarked, "You shouldn't even be awake right now, and you should still be injured, but you're not. I'm assuming it has to do with either the AllSpark energy or the Dark Energon or perhaps even both stored in your now techno-organic body. You should have aged more and yet you look like you're still twenty-three. You should also be dead."

Sam shrugged. "Shockwave did a lot of stuff to me with faking my death being one of them." Bumblebee didn't like how Sam said it so matter-of-factly with little elaboration. Neither did Ratchet nor Optimus Prime.

Sam looked around and noticed that this place was nowhere he had been before he "died". All the other Autobot bases were active military bases like Edwards Air Force Base or NEST's main headquarters at Diego Garcia with plenty of room to hold a small army of Autobots and humans and were above ground. This one appeared to be an old abandoned, underground building fitted with a mixture of Cybertronian and human technology with very limited amount of space. Sam also saw two teenagers and a preteen – an Asian girl, a black haired Caucasian boy, and a brown haired Caucasian boy, respectively – on the catwalk. The Sam saw a bulky green Autobot whose name Sam might have heard in passing, especially from Breakdown. _What was it? Bulgehead? Bulkhead?_

Sam also noticed the differences of each of the previous known Autobots that weren't there before Sam's "death" especially in Arcee and Ratchet. Arcee went from a pink Transformer, only a couple feet taller from him, with two wheels for feet to a very tall blue femme with feet rather than wheels. Even her face was different. _I wonder if she still transforms into a motorcycle._ Ratchet went from being completely green with a rounder face, and slimmer build to a red-and-white Transformer with much more bulk and a pill-shaped head, from a Hummer H2 rescue vehicle to an ambulance. Optimus was now mainly red with a blue head and legs with more metal showing; gone were his blue body with red flames. His upper body was bulkier than before. At least it appeared that Optimus still transforms into a truck. Bumblebee changed the least. His grill and little horns were gone, but other than that nothing changed. Sam did notice that all of the Autobots had metal eyebrows and their exposed metal was a much lighter shade.

Now the bombardment of questions began. "Where am I? Who are they?" Sam pointed to Miko, Jack, Raf, and Bulkhead. "And what happened since I was gone?"

"You are in an abandoned Cold War missile silo handed to us by the US government and fitted with Autobot technology and converted to Autobot Outpost omega One, our secret base located just outside of Jasper, Nevada," Optimus explained. With a smile, Optimus greeted Sam, "Welcome back."

"Thanks. Why do you need a secret base? What about Diego Garcia and other NEST bases?" Sam asked.

"Sam, a lot has happened since you were gone," Optimus said.

"I can see that. You got some new human alleys. Did you pay them a visit in some random alleyway?" Sam asked humorously.

Arcee smiled. "More like they stumbled upon us."

The kids decided to take this time to introduce themselves, starting with Jack. "I'm Jack Darby. You already know Arcee. She's my guardian. Nice meeting you, Sam."

"You, too."

"I'm Raf Esquivel. Bumblebee's also my guardian, too," Raf introduced himself shyly.

"That's interesting to know," Sam mumbled to himself. A flicker of hurt crossed Sam's face, but it was too slight for anyone to see.

Miko went ballistic. "I'm Miko Nakadai, and this is my best buddy Bulkhead! I heard you killed Megatron! Can you tell me how? Were you scared? What was it like being captive of the Decepticons? Can you show me your Cybertronian form?..."

"Miko, that's enough," Ratchet said firmly. "Sam's been through a lot, and he doesn't need you bombarding him with questions."

"It's alright, Ratchet. Nice meeting you, Miko," Sam reassured. Then he turned his attention to Optimus. "What exactly did happen while I was gone?"

"When Ratchet gave word that Shockwave was chasing after you and Bumblebee, Sideswipe, Arcee, Chromia, and I sped off after you two. We found Ratchet severely injured and in emergency stasis lock. I had Sideswipe stay with him and commlinked First Aid and Hoist to meet Sideswipe at his coordinates and tend to Ratchet. Arcee, Chromia, and I left to find you and Bumblebee and offer backup, but by the time we arrived, Shockwave was gone, and Bumblebee was cradling your dead body, or so we thought. There were many Autobot and human casualties including Leadfoot, Roadbuster, Topspin, SASF Agent Graham, General Morshower, and Charlotte Mearing. We held funerals for all our fallen comrades including you," Optimus explained.

"Not long after Megatron makes a surprise attack followed by Starscream, Soundwave – all of whom were somehow resurrected and rebuilt differently – and other Decepticons – launch an attack."

"It was because of Megatron that I was given a different frame. My wheels where blown off by his fusion canon, and my head took some damage. My head was rebuilt albeit a bit differently, and I was given two legs because First Aid said two legs would be eaiser for balance when in the heat of battle, or so he says." Arcee rolled her optics. "At least my legs make me taller."

"Why are you blue?" Sam asked. "You used to be pink."

"Because Chromia took some severe damaged, too, and Hoist mixed up who's who, and painted me blue and Chromia pink. Chromia was not happy so she got new paintjob. I, however, liked my new coloring, but got some pink highlights as a homage to my old self and to keep others from confusing me and Chromia."

"Oh. It looks good on you," Sam said.

"Thanks."

When the short conversation was over, Optimus continued, "Our numbers were small, and we thought for sure we would fail, but Megatron decided to leave Earth and take his Decepticons with him. I made the decision to chase after him with the only remaining Autobots I had; there weren't enough to stay behind and adequately protect Earth. However, in case of a Decepticon attack on Earth, the UN wanted all humans to forget about our existence with the exception of remaining NEST members, themselves, and anyone who was previously given clearance to our existence before the Fallen let our secret out such as your parents, Carly Spencer, and Mikaela Banes. I refused as erasing part of a person's memories seemed to the right of freedom, but I was convinced that it was for the best; most humans only heard of us never seen us so no real memories were being tampered with, and it wasn't true erasing but distorting hiding certain thoughts and memories, making them forgettable. However, I still wonder if I made the right situation."

"Hold on!" Jack interrupted Optimus Prime. "Earth knew about you guys before?"

"Yes, you three might have even heard about us. You three were alive and well when we left Earth."

"It seems kinda dark," Miko said.

"How did you guys manage to do it?" Raf asked.

"Before Que, our Autobot inventor and engineer, died, he created a sound code that when uploaded to audio forms of entertainment whether be television, radio, or music, it subconsciously retrieves certain memories from the conscious and keeping them locked up in the subconscious. You do not hear it nor does it drastically change your personality and your psyche. Simply, your subconscious picks up the code; the code programs the subconscious to retrieve and lock up certain memories, and the subconscious does what it's commanded to do," Ratchet explained. "I uploaded the sound code into Earth's satellites when Prime gave the order, and for those we do not want the sound code affecting, we gave them distortion ear buds which are like your Earth hearing aids but rather than help you hear, it prevents the subconscious from picking up the code."

"Anyway," Optimus continued, "a year later, we found signs of Decepticon activity on Earth. Megatron wasn't among them, but Starscream was, and I knew Megatron will return to Earth. I gathered a team consisting of Bumblebee, Ratchet, and Bulkhead and made landing on Earth. The US government did not want human casualties happening again so rather than reinstating NEST, they gave us an old missile silo which Ratchet fitted with Cybertroinan technology. Not too long after. Cliffjumper and Arcee arrived, and we became known as Team Prime. Three years later, Starscream terminated Cliffjumper and Megatron returned. Jack, Miko, and Raf stumbled upon Arcee and Bumblebee in their true forms. Because any human perceived as our ally is a Decepticon target, we took them in, and ever since then, they have become valuable allies and close friends."

"So that's the story?" Sam asked. He lay down.

"Yes," Optimus said. "I understand there is a lot of mystery concerning you, but it's perhaps better if you rest first before you tell us your tale."

"Sure. My little escape plot did take a lot of energy out of me." Sam smirked. Then he yawned and closed his eyes and fell asleep under the watchful, loving optics of Bumblebee.

When Sam was fast asleep, Arcee said, 'I'm more cursious in what he did to his arm back in the desert and what kind of firepower he's using."

"I ran some scans concerning the AllSpark enery and Dark Energon inside the boy. The AllSpark energy isn't taking over his mind like last time. Sam appears to have control over it, but unlike humans, the dark energon has no mal effect on him. Actually, it doesn't even seem to be corrupting his mind like in Transformers or poisoning the AllSpark. Primus and Unicron's powers never coexisted," Ratchet said.

"They did at one point, Ratchet, when Primus and Unicron coexisted together as Order and Chaos in The One," Optimus said.

"Who's The One?" Miko asked.

"An extra-dimensional entity that created Unicron and Primus," Optimus explained.

"Why?" Miko asked.

"Perhaps another time I will tell you," Optimus said gently. His focus was on Sam right now. He turned to Ratchet.

"Still, I am very interested in what has been done to Sam, and if it's reversible. However, my expertise is limited to this kind of stuff, and Shockwave is not here to explain. I can only rely on Sam's words," Ratchet said.

"Sam has been through a lot, and the way he talked about what Shockwave's done to him worries me. Sam will tell. That is if he's ready to face his demons," Optimus stated with sadness tainting his voice for the boy who became Earth's savior and his.

* * *

><p><strong>Songs used<strong>

"_But I miss you more than I did yesterday,"_ – "Give 'Em Hell, Kid" by: My Chemical Romance

"_I love you." _– "I Love You" by: Chris Brown

"_I'm here/nothing can harm you…I'm here, with you, beside you, to guard you..." _– "All I Ask of You" by: Emmy Rossum and Patrick Wilson (composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber)

"…_yeah, I know."_ – "Yeah I Know" by: Ciara

_But…Hey, whataya want from me…?" _– "Whataya Want From Me" by: Adam Lambert


	12. Upgrade

**I am so sorry I haven't updated in forever! Scholarships, college applications, and AP English essays have been taking up most of my time, and for awhile I was banned from this site. Hopefully, I'll be better about updating in the future. Meanwhile, enjoy and I do not own anything.**

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><p>Sam woke up not on his cot but on a very uncomfortable couch in some very small room with a ceiling lower than he is tall. That couch turned out to be a car backseat and the room a car interior. Sam sat up and started to panic, thinking he was in a Trooper Vehicon taking him to some battle and forced to kill Autobots, but as Sam observed the interior of the car, he realized that he was inside Bumblebee, or at least an upgraded version of Bumblebee as he saw the technology advanced dashboard equipped with a little TV screen. He knew it was Bumblebee because he could sense his spark thanks to the AllSpark energy that courses through his veins. It just took some calming down before he could feel the beloved spark radiating underneath Bee's armor. <em>I guess Bumblebee decided to put me inside his interior sometime when I was asleep, <em>Sam thought.

Sam started to calm down. The dream had finally come true. Sam sat up, and let all the events of today hit him. Just yesterday he was stasis cuffed in the Decepticon dungeon. Now he's in the Autobot base. It felt so surreal but real at the same time. Sam didn't really care about the oxymoron of feelings he was feeling. He was just happy to be with Bumblebee and the rest of the Autobots. Sam lay back down and tuned into Bumblebee's spark. Along with the spark's warmth, he felt the calming trance as Bumblebee let himself into as he recharged. Sam also felt Bumblebee's rekindled fierce protectiveness with a streak of possessiveness of him now that Bumblebee got his brother back. It felt so nice to be enveloped in the love and warmth of a loved one. Too bad he could only feel the emotions of Transformers and not humans. It would be nice to literally feel the love radiating from Carly whenever she saw him or feel his mother's protectiveness over him.

_"__Sam! When you go, he goes! I cannot live with a psychotic alien in my house!" Judy screamed at Sam, whose stress levels were about to break through the walls of his mind, as they both recovered from the aftermath of crazed kitchenware come to life and a burning house._

Sam smiled at the memory. _Maybe not, _he decided on the subject of feeling human emotions. His mother didn't need pot to get crazy. She was already psycho enough. He didn't want to feel that emotion, especially when he's stressed. Sam's amusement turned into sadness as he wondered when he will get to see his parents and Carly again. He already reunited with Bee. Next, he wanted to see his human family.

Sam felt Bee stir into the waking world. "Hey, sleepyhead," Sam said and rubbed Bee's backseat affectionately just like he did before he was captured.

_"__Good morning starshine, the earth says hello," _Bumblebee greeted.

Sam yawned. "Morning already?"

_"__In the evening...on a Sunday…" _ Sam looked over at Bumblebee's clock that read six thirty.

"Wow! I was asleep for five and a half hours." Sam stretched and adjusted his body into the sitting position. His stomach growled. "Haven't eaten in awhile."

Bumblebee opened the side door, and Sam climbed out. Bumblebee transformed and held out his hand to Sam. Sam climbed on, and Bumblebee placed him on his shoulder. Bumblebee noticed how heavy Sam seemed to weigh. He didn't look overweight, but his weight didn't correspond with his body shape. Ignoring that, Bee chirped, **_"Let's go find you something to eat." _**

"Okay." Like Raf, Sam knew exactly what Bee was saying partly because Sam was taught Cybertronian and Cybertronian Morse Code (Bumblebee's alternate method of speaking) but mostly because Sam and Bee had a bond that went beyond words.

Bumblebee left his room and brought Sam to the main room. He noticed that the kids were still in base. Bumblebee would need to bring Raf home soon, but he didn't want to leave Sam. He could ask Bulkhead to do it, but Bumblebee enjoyed his drives with Raf and vice versa.

As soon as Miko saw Sam, her face lit up and she abandoned her videogame. "Hey, Sam! So you gonna tell us how you escaped from Megatron now that you've slept? Ratchet said you had AllSpark energy and Dark energon coexisting inside of you. What's that like?"

Everyone else turned to Bumblebee and Sam as soon Miko excitedly greeted Sam and Bumblebee. Sam stretched and yawned for the final time. "Hey, everybody."

"I assumed you rested well?" Optimus asked.

"Yeah." Sam's stomach growled. "Although I'm a bit hungry."

"We got a mini fridge with some leftover pizza inside," Jack offered.

"Thanks, uh." Sam had a slip up of the brain as he tried to remember who the kid's name was. _Starts with a J._

"Jack."

"Yeah, that's it. Thanks."

Bumblebee gently grabbed Sam and placed him on the catwalk. Jack got out the last three slices of pizza and gave it to Sam, who did not mind eating it cold. He was just glad to get something decent to eat. What he was usually given was some bizarre mixture of energon and a protein shake. It tasted horrible although his techno half required energon and his organic half required human food. At least Breakdown would get him real food every once in awhile.

As soon as he bitten unto the hardened cheesy center, Sam felt like he was dining on caviler rather than three-week-old pizza. He hadn't had anything this good since a few months before Breakdown offlined when Breakdown got him McDonald's and that was a year ago. Sam devoured the three slices as if there were no tomorrow.

"Sheesh! Did the 'Cons even feed you?" Miko remarked as watched Sam devour three large slices in less than two minutes.

"Yeah, but it wasn't even real food more like energon crossed with a protein shake. I have no idea what was in it other than energon, and I don't want to know. It tastes horrible like soured milk mixed with vomit."

"I…think I've lost my appetite for dinner," Raf said.

"You get used to it after awhile, especially since it's the only thing you're fed. Breakdown at least fed me real food whenever he got the chance to get me some," Sam said.

"Why would Breakdown do that?" Miko asked.

Sam shrugged. "Breakdown's got a soft spot for the little guy, I guess. You'll never find a Cybertronian who would treat the Vehicons like completely sentient beings with feelings and individual personalities like Breakdown does."

Bulkhead snorted. "Yeah right. Never trust a 'Con."

"He also says he can kick your aft."

Bulkhead transformed his fist into a mace. "Well, I show him!" He punched a wall, damaging some of Ratchet's equipment in the process.

"Bulkhead, I _needed _that!" Ratchet yelled. Sam and the kids chuckled.

"Well, it's a bit too late. He's dead," Sam said solemnly. "Airachnid killed him."

"The only thing I regret is that I couldn't have done it myself," Bulkhead stated, cursing out Airachnid underneath his breath.

Ignoring Bulkhead, Ratchet asked Sam, "You said you were given some energon mixed in with organic food. Would you mind telling me what the energon was for?"

"How 'bout I show you?"

"Show me?" Ratchet asked confusedly.

"Yeah, hold on. I have to strip down so I need to transform part of my lower body so…uh…you know. It won't be embarrassing," Sam explained. He stood still for a couple minutes. Then he took off his shirt, socks, shoes, pants, and underwear, revealing brown metal with orange and yellow hot rod flames on the sides where his thighs, butt, and groin used to be. It looked like part of the body where the legs connect to the torso of a Cybertronia – no family jewels making an appearance.

To make things even weirder, Sam walked to the end of the catwalk. He climbed on top of the fence and, to everyone's horror, jumped down. Bumblebee panicked and was about to catch Sam when in the blink of the eye, landed not a human Sam but a Transformer only a head shorter than Arcee and with a little more bulk at the torso. He sported a brown paint job with orange and yellow hot rod flames on the sides of his frame and outer sides of his arms and legs. If one looked closely, they could see Cyberglyphs imprinted on his armor, looking very similar to those on the AllSpark cube. There was another set of empty veins that took on the appearance of zigzag lines. Sam's optics glowed green, and his head had a red forehead crest identical to Starscream's. Sam's servos had long sharp fingers, and on both shoulder blades were branded with the Decepticon insignia. He had door wings, and it was obvious that he sported motorcycle kibble. Arcee noticed that Sam's right arm and servo matched the one Sam transformed his organic limb earlier that day only larger. Everyone was agape at what just happened.

"That's why," Sam simply said.

Miko was the first to speak. "Coooooooollllll!" She ogled at Sam's robo form. "Can you transform into a motorcycle?"

"Sure. I'm a triple changer." Then with some shifting of metallic parts, Sam was now a brown 2008 Kawasaki Ninja ZX-14 Sportbike motorcycle with hot rod flames on the sides. Sam transformed back into a robot.

"Awesome! How fast can you go?" Miko asked.

"Pretty fast, probably as fast as any old motorcycle," Sam answered.

"Do you got weapons?" Miko asked.

"Yeah." Sam transformed both arms into guns that looked like a cross between Optimus's ion cannons and Bumblebee's plasma blasters. Sam then transformed them back into his hands and then back into two long and very sturdy and sharp looking swords with both sets of empty (but much more noticeable) veins. Then he transformed his swords into his hands. "I also have a battle mask." Sam revealed his battle mask which looked very similar to Bumblebee's old one. He then unsheathed his battle mask.

"Now I understand what you mean by showing me," Ratchet said, "but how?"

Sam leaned against the catwalk. "I don't quite understand it, but Shockwave fitted me with nanotechnology with its own organ system connected to my T-Cog with nanobots small enough to manipulate my molecular structure so I can transform into this. Also, apparently each or maybe some of the little nanobots carry certain metal molecules or whatever you guys are made up of and catalysts to transform my skin into living metal. Plus, they give me extra mass. That's why I weigh heavier than I'm suppose to weigh in human form – the extra mass that gives me height in robo mode is being stored within my body because of the Law of Conservation of Mass. The catalysts speed up the process. I also have a spark, but it's a fusion between my own soul and a spark. Apparently, human souls really do exist."

"Interesting," Ratchet mused. _It's a wonderful work of science but at the same time so horrifying to do this on an innocent person without their consent. _"I've detected AllSpark energy and Dark Energon coexisting within you. Can you explain that?"

"Yeah, turns out that the AllSpark energy that I've contracted ten years ago never really left me. It just buried itself deep inside me or something like that. It was basically undetectable. I don't know why, but it interested Shockwave. He upgraded my blood vessels/energon lines to handle the AllSpark energy so I could control it and wield it. The whole Primus versus Unicorn and their origin fascinated him so he tried to see if it was possible of the two energies can coexist without corrupting each other or their host. Turns out when energon and dark energon are in a human, they cancel each other out so Shockwave had to create some kind of buffer. However, he thought it was interesting that blood causes the two duel energies to simply cancel out rather than the two energies fighting for dominance and killing the host so he made a blood based buffer that allows energon and dark energon to flow through me without canceling each other out or corrupting one another. I can control the power of dark energon and AllSpark energy. Actually, it's what I use for firepower, and AllSpark enegy gives me accelerated healing. I can control them at the same time, too, but it's really difficult. Knock Out also once said that I could mix the two energies into the energy of The One, but I can't do it."

"Coooooool!" Miko exclaimed.

"And Shockwave did this to you, I presume…"

"To make me the perfect weapon," Sam finished for Ratchet. Bumblebee suppressed an angry growl at Shockwave for turning his precious charge into an object. "He chose me because I was the perfect test subject." Sam clenched his fists.

Optimus rested a servo on Sam's shoulder. "You are among friends now, Sam. You will not be used as a weapon." Sam nodded, and Optimus removed his servo. "Right now I believe it's time to bring the children home. Sam, it's best that you stay here for your safety. It's also a good idea if we continue to let the world think you're dead with the exception of Agent Fowler. Later, I need to debrief you on your escape and any Decepticon information you know but on another day."

Bulkhead and Arcee transformed, and Miko and Jack climbed in or on their respective guardians. "Bye Sam!" Miko enthusiastically said. Right now with Sam's abilities and control over dark energon and AllSpark energy, he's the second coolest thing in the world. The first is Bulkhead, but nothing can take Bulk's place in Miko's heart.

"Bye Sam," Jack said. Sam waved goodbye to both as the two pairs of guardian and charge left.

Bumblebee, on the other hand, looked torn between staying with Sam and taking Raf home. Now that Sam was back, Bumblebee wanted to spend every second with him, but he loved Raf just as much and wanted to make sure he got home safe and sound.

Sam noticed Bee's face. "Go on, Bee, I'll still be here when you get back."

_"__Goodbye…" _Bumblebee played. _"I'm…coming back for…you."_

He transformed into his alternate mode. Raf climbed in, feeling a little hurt about Bee's eagerness to come back to Sam rather than spend a little time with him, but Raf decided that he was being selfish for feeling that and pushed the hurt back. Sam watched Bumblebee drive away. He then transformed until it was just metal covering his groin, butt, and thighs. He ran up the catwalk and put on his clothes and transformed the rest of his body into skin. He flopped on the couch and watched some TV, patiently waiting for Bee to come back.

* * *

><p><strong>Songs used<strong> 

_"__Good morning starshine, the earth says hello," _– "Good Morning Starshine" from the musical _Hair_

_"__In the evening…" _– "In The Evening" by: Led Zeppelin

_"…__on a Sunday…" _– "Interstate Love Song" by: Stone Temple Pilots

_"__Goodbye…" _and _"I'm…you" _– "Nice to Know You" by: Incubus

_"…coming back for…" _ - "Letters from the Sky" by: Civil Twilight


	13. Promise

**It's been awhile since I updated so here you go. Disclaimer: I own nothing**

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><p>Sam flipped through some shows on TV, none of which were familiar to him so he settled on the news to catch up with life on Earth. Just by seeing what's on TV made Sam realize how cut off from human culture he had really been during those past five years with the Decepticons, but it was all over now. Sam closed his eyes and tried not to think about those five years of hell. Unspeakable things were done to him, and he was forced to do unspeakable things. The only bright light in those five years was the time Optimus joined the Decepticons as Orion Pax. Despite Orion not remembering his past, he and Sam became fast friends. (Of course under Megatron's orders, Sam wasn't even supposed to be in hearing or seeing distance of Orion, but Sam didn't care.) They even escaped together, or at least attempted to. An army of Vehicons were shooting at them as they raced to Groundbridge control and one of them aimed its blaster at Orion's head. Sam shouted a warning, and Orion ducked. Instead the blast hit a couple of boxed energon. The energon exploded, setting off a chain reaction. The explosions must have caused a very large support beam to come loose because the next thing Sam knew, there was a twenty ton weight pinning him down. It was like twenty Breakdowns plus ten Megatrons sitting on him. Luckily he was in robo mode so he was still alive, but he could feel energon – both dark and regular – flow from his back. Orion tried to get Sam loose but the beam was too heavy, and Vehicons were coming in fast. Sam told Orion to just go, and after much pleading on Sam's part (Orion was deadest on not leaving Sam), Orion vowed to come back for Sam when he joined the Autobots. That was the last of Sam ever saw Orion.<p>

_Until now_, Sam thought. He had paid dearly for his actions that day. Megatron took out his frustration on him in the holding cell. The combined pain from his injury and from Megatron's blows was excruciating. The only thing making the pain bearable was the giddy hope that _someone _on his side knew he was alive and was going to rescue him. Sam waited for weeks to be rescued until Megatron sneeringly broke the news that when Orion gained his memories of being Optimus Prime, he lost his memories of being the Decepticon Orion, thus forgetting his promise to Sam. At first Sam didn't want to believe it, but as time passed, it seemed to be the case.

_But now it doesn't matter. I'm back. _Sam thought about Bumblebee's new charge Raf. A part of Sam seemed hurt that Bee has a new charge. It was like Bee had replaced Sam. There was a time when Sam was Bee's human, and Bee was Sam's Autobot. You're kidnapped, have your humanity stolen, and get tortured when you rebel. You rebel and endure it all, trying to hold on to a piece of yourself. Then you escape and reunite with your best buddy only to discover that he replaced you during your hellish absence really does a lot to your self-esteem.

But another part of Sam said that he was being stupid and insecure as usual. Bumblebee would never replace Sam. Raf was probably someone Optimus ordered him to guard. Raf probably made Bee happy when he grieved for Sam, and Sam just wants Bee to be safe and happy. If there was any bond forged between the two, it would not replace the bond forged between Sam and Bee. And besides, didn't Sam form a brotherly relationship with another Transformer when he was "dead"? Although he touched upon it, he never really elaborated about it, but Sam formed a friendship with Breakdown that was, in a way, like the relationship between an older brother and a younger brother. Breakdown looked after Sam, keeping Megatron off his back, feeding him real food, and always providing an auditory receptor to listen. Breakdown wasn't ordered to look after Sam; Breakdown did it because, despite being a Decepticon, he was a good guy at spark. Sam had really liked Breakdown and cried when he was killed (although Sam was still closer to Bumblebee than he was to Breakdown). It was because of his friendship with Breakdown that Knock Out helped Sam escape. If Sam could form brotherly friendships with other Transformers, why could Bee form brotherly relationships with other humans? Sam would be a hypocrite if he thought otherwise, but that still did not ease the hurt in his heart.

Then Sam heard engine noises and instantly got up. He knew the sound of that engine anywhere no matter what type of car the engine was in. Bumblebee drove to the middle of the base and then transformed. "Hey Bee," Sam greeted.

"_Hey, hey,_" Bee greeted. He held out a servo so Sam could climb in. He then brought Sam close to his chassis.

"I'm glad I'm back. You were all I thought about," Sam said as he rested his head against Bee.

"_I wish you_ _were here…instead of…Gone like a soldier in the civil war, bang bang/Gone like a '59 Cadillac /Like all the good things that ain't never coming back,_" Bee played.

"We'll never be separated again like that, right Bee?"

"_**Right."**_

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><p>"<em>Hey, hey,<em>" – "Rockstar" by: Fefe Dobson

"_I wish_ _you_ _were here._" – "Wish You Were Here" by: Incubus

"…_instead of_" – "Instead of a Kiss" by: Alannah Myles

"…_Gone like a soldier in the civil war, bang bang/Gone like a '59 Cadillac /Like all the good things that ain't never coming back,"_ - "Gone" by: Montgomery Gentry


	14. Fear and Wonder

**I'm so sorry I haven't updated since March. I always hate authors who write good stories and don't update for nearly a year, and now I'm becoming one of them. Well, here's the next chapter. Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

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><p><strong>Meanwhile…<strong>

Raf laid wide awake. He had long since gone to bed, but if he didn't go to sleep soon, he will be too tired for school. Raf had read somewhere that by focusing on trying to sleep will only result in one staying awake. The best way is to relax and let sleep come to you. Raf tried that, but his mind was too active so he tried reading in bed hoping to distract his mind in order to allow sleep to come to him. When he eventually got bored of the book, he tried playing some Sudoku. Then he tried playing some computer games. He even watched some YouTube videos, but nothing worked, and Raf knew why. He was worried about his relationship with Bee.

_No, _he thought, _not worried. Scared. _Raf was scared that Bee will no longer want to spend time with him or have any need of him because he now had Sam. Raf realized that the only reason why Bee is his guardian is that he didn't had another charge. If Sam had never "died," Raf would have been guarded by some other Autobot, probably Ratchet, and although Raf was close to Ratchet, Ratchet isn't Bumblebee. Ratchet wouldn't have taken the time to play videogames, go racing, or even just to listen and talk to him like Bee has done. Raf used to feel proud of himself for being the reason Bee is no longer depressed, but now he's not so sure. That didn't mean Raf wants Bee to feel depressed. No, Raf never wants Bumblebee to feel any pain – emotional, mental, or physical. Raf would do anything in his power to prevent it if he could. What Raf meant is that he is starting to wonder if he was simply a replacement for Sam. Raf made Bee happy again for no inexplicable reason other than the fact that he shared something in common with Sam. Otherwise, Bee wouldn't be as happy as he was when he met Sam.

And that's what was keeping Raf up at night: fear that he is nothing but a replacement for Sam, and now Bee will simply forget about him. _But that fear is unfounded. Bee cares about me. He even told me how terrified he was when he thought he was gonna lose me, and Ratchet said that I could never replace him, _Raf comforted himself, but then he remember that Ratchet said, "…you can give him that same happiness Sam gave Bumblebee." Then Raf remembered his argument to his fear, and something inside Raf sunk to the pit of his stomach. _Maybe I should talk to Bee about this. _Finally feeling sleepy, Raf rolled to his right side and closed his eyes.

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><p><strong>Back at Autobot Outbase Omega One…<strong>

Like Rafael, Ratchet could not sleep either. The idea of Primus's spark and Unicron's blood coexisting perfectly and harmoniously is baffling and unbelievable. So much that it kept him from recharge. Ratchet had downloaded as much Cybertronian history as he could into their files in case they needed it for reference (which they did). Ratchet knew that Primus, the god of order and creation, and Unicron, the god of chaos and destruction, constantly fought each other for control until Primus, with the help of his creation of the Thirteen, defeated him. He knew that Unicron became Earth's core and for a short time woke up until Optimus put him to sleep. He knew that Primus became Cybertronian's core and through the Well of AllSparks, he created all the fauna of Cybertron. He knew Primus and Unicron were brothers.

But he never before heard about The One.

So Ratchet looked into the history. Apparently, The One, also known as the Source and the sentient core of the universe, is either the multiverse or created the multiverse. Either way, The One made sure there was balance in all things. At some point early in time, The One created Unicron and Primus. The One made them Chaos and Order, respectively. Details on why are fuzzy. One theory said that when the Big Bang gave birth to this universe, The One was curious about this new realm and created Unicron to explore it. For some reason (although historians believed that The One needed something to balance Unicron's destructive nature), The One split Unicron in half to create Primus and made them Chaos and Order, respectively. Another theory said that The One created Unicron, and when Unicron began to eat everything, The One created Primus (similar to how he created Unicron) to destroy Unicron, and when Primus destroyed Unicron, Primus could return to his place in the Omniversal Matrix. However, all experts agree that Unicron and Primus represent two halves of The One – chaos, destruction, death and order, creation, life.

Ratchet's thoughts began to drift toward Sam. In a way, Sam was like The One. He had Unicron's blood and his organic side in a way came from Unicron, and he had Primus's blood and AllSpark, and his techno side in a way came from Primus. _Was this Shockwave's intention? To create power similar to that of The One to harbor as a weapon? _Ratchet thought. Sam said he was capable of combining the energies from the Dark Energon and Primus's energon to create the energy of The One, but he didn't know how. _What strength and power does the energy of The One possess? _Finally feeling the need to recharge, Ratchet turned off the monitors. He will only know if Sam ever learns to create that kind of power and if he could ever get a hold of Shockwave's files.

* * *

><p><strong>Information about The One was taken from an article on The One in TFwiki. net<strong>


End file.
